The Sol Plaatje municipality in South Africa is facing a severe environmental crisis due to its failure to maintain and repair infrastructure, resulting in tens of millions of liters of raw sewage flowing into the environment. The area around Kimberley is plagued by perennial lakes and vleis of untreated sewage, posing a significant threat to the health and well-being of residents.
In January 2021, 26 families in the Roodepan suburb were forced to abandon their homes after a pump station broke down, flooding the area with sewage. Despite a directive from the provincial Department of Environment and Nature Conservation to address the issue, the problem persists. The affected families were relocated, but some of their homes were later stripped and demolished.
The sewage crisis has also polluted communal land owned by the!Kun and Khwe people in nearby Platfontein, making it impossible for a mining company to operate on the land. The community has been struggling with the issue for years, with attempts to get the municipality to fix the infrastructure proving fruitless.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Homevale waste water treatment works is not functioning properly, with most of the sewage reaching the plant not being treated before being released into the Kamfersdam. This has resulted in a permanent lake of pollution, threatening national infrastructure, including the N12 national highway and a Transnet railway line.
Transnet has confirmed that the railway line is periodically submerged, affecting operational continuity. The company is working with the municipality to find technical solutions to the problem. The owners of the farm on which Kamfersdam is situated have taken the municipality to court over the rising water levels, which have encroached on up to 700ha of the 1,000ha farm.
The court has ordered the municipality to provide a report on how it will ensure no untreated or partially treated sewage is discharged into the pan and to limit the volume of the discharge. However, the municipality has failed to submit the report, and the situation remains unresolved. The crisis has also had a devastating impact on the local wildlife, with the lesser flamingo population all but disappearing due to the pollution.
