Spilling raw sewerage into the Apia River, because the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works had not been maintained, is not a new phenomenon in Hammanskraal. The situation is so bad that in 2019, the South African Human Rights Commission, issued a warning that water, North of Pretoria, is unfit for human consumption.
Businesswoman and laundry owner, whose business and home is in Hammanskraal, Fenkie Modise, says operational costs for her business have been on the rise since 10 years ago. “I have to spend money on expensive chemicals to get rid of the smelly and dirty water of Hammanskraal.”
She also has to travel as far as Pretoria East to buy those chemicals.
“Buying bottled water has become normal to us as residents.”
This is over and above contracted trucks by the Municipality delivering water and also a planned plant, which has been on the cards for five years, counting…
Yesterday (22nd May 2023), the City of Tshwane’s team of Environmental Health Practitioners ran tests to test the cleanliness of water tankers providing water to the communities in the Hammanskraal supply area. The team committed to run tests for the whole week because 12 people were confirmed dead, 99 were receiving care in the emergency unit and 37 were admitted due to a cholera outbreak.
The average period to get the test results of sampled water from laboratories is three days. But many questions go unanswered, one, who else is taking water samples either than the Municipality? How regularly are these tests conducted? What systems are in place to alert citizens of potential dangers such as water bourne diseases?