The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry has strongly refuted recent statements suggesting a developing water crisis. In reaction to media reports predicting that SA is facing a water crisis similar to the electricity crisis, Minister Lindiwe Hendricks said, “Fortunately we are not.”
Earlier this month several media reports indicated radioactive contamination, unsafe dams, waste spills and poor governance are threatening the country’s water supply. Referring specifically to a Sunday Times article of 3 February 2008, Hendricks said it had “raised a number of concerns, most of which are in the public domain. What they don’t do is outline the responses or measures taken by my department to address the issues.”
Pollution in the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment Area (WCA) is in the spotlight and Hendricks said issues raised by the National Nuclear Regulator’s recent report on the area “are of concern to us”. “We have publicly stated that we are addressing them,” she continued. “However, one should be careful about extrapolating an issue that affects 1km of a river and directly impacts only 950 people as something that affects the water quality for 48 million people. What is more concerning for my department, and should be for all South Africans, is that there are still companies, as well as municipalities, that pollute or allow the pollution of our water resources. We are tackling these polluters and as we strengthen our institutions, we’ll be in a better position to ensure such pollution stops or polluters are forced to pay the clean-up costs. The acid mine drainage in the WCA has been dealt with comprehensively and the mines in question have been cooperating with us to address the problem.” – Cornelia du Plooy
