Last week, Garden Road residents in Salt Rock alleged that a stream flowing toward Salt Rock’s main beach appeared contaminated.
Durban — The KwaDukuza Municipality, north of Durban, has noted with concern the misinformation that has been circulating regarding the desludging of a dam from a private property in Salt Rock.
Last week, Garden Road residents in Salt Rock alleged that a stream flowing toward Salt Rock’s main beach appeared contaminated.
An investigation showed that the source of the contamination emanated from the desludging of a dam on private property.
KwaDukuza Municipality’s, Ward 22 councillor, Privi Makhan, said the municipality had launched investigations into the illegal discharge of material into the watercourse further upstream.
Makhan warned communities to be more aligned to environmentally compliant practices.
Makhan said there appears to be a lot of misinformation in the public domain around the issue surrounding the Salt Rock stream.
“There was a level of pollutants. I must emphasise that it is not linked to any damaged municipal infrastructure that belongs to either the water authorities or local municipality. There are a number of processes underway, investigative and otherwise, to ensure that all transgressors are brought to book,” Makhan said.
In the interim, Makhan cautions the community from sharing any information that is not credible and that could compromise the integrity of any investigative processes that are underway.
KwaDukuza Municipality spokesperson Sipho Mkhize said the municipality discovered that there has been an illegal act of desludging dammed water, which is in contravention of the National Water Act (36 of 1998) and other regulations.
Mkhize said this act has had a detrimental impact on the environment, which may inadvertently cause significant pollution to the ecosystem that is the Salt Rock river and beach.
KwaDukuza Municipality had conducted multiple inspections and subsequently issued work stoppage notices to the persons responsible for the illegal activity and further notified them of their duty of care and remediation as contained in terms of section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act (1998) NEMA, explained Mkhize.
Since the occurrence of this unfortunate incident, KwaDukuza in collaboration with Urban Improvements Precinct has also undertaken sea water quality testing on a weekly basis.
“It must be placed on record that samples of water were sent to a private laboratory on September 6, 2022, and September 13, 2022, respectively. It must be further placed on record that on both occasions the results came back showing that there is no detection of E.coli or harmful contamination at Salt Rock Main Beach,” Mkhize said.
On September 22, 2022, further water quality tests were conducted and samples were taken from the sea and the river. Mkhize said they are currently awaiting results.
The KwaDukuza Municipality would like to inform the public that they are aware of the situation and are currently conducting the necessary investigations, including scientific testing of water samples.
“Should we find reasons to proceed and close the beach, the public will be notified accordingly. At this stage, we have to scientifically provide evidence proving that desludging may have caused significant pollution to the Salt Rock stream,” Mkhize said.
KwaDukuza Municipality is cognizant of the role the beaches play, as a catalyst for domestic tourism and economic growth in the region. Therefore, we wish to reassure all residents and holidaymakers that transgressors of any environmental non-compliance, will be dealt with, within the ambit of the legal framework, Mkhize said.
Daily News