Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, Sello Seitlholo, is set to launch the Vaal River Anti-Pollution Forum, which is aimed at addressing long-standing pollution affecting water quality in the Vaal River.
The Vaal River Anti-Pollution Forum, to be launched on Thursday, will be a non-statutory forum, including various stakeholders with a particular focus on stakeholders that are directly affected by the declining water quality of the Vaal River from the Upper, Middle and Lower Vaal.
The chairperson of the forum will be an independent candidate, to be appointed by the Water and Sanitation Minister, who has no personal interest, except to see an improvement of the Vaal River water quality.
Seitlholo highlighted that the main objective of the Anti-Pollution Forum will be to co-ordinate, improve, and integrate efforts for the management of the Vaal River quality, in line with its determined resource quality objectives.
“The forum will also provide high-level guidance aimed at ensuring the protection of the Vaal River as well as identifying remedial actions to mitigate the impact of pollution as a result of water-use sectors such as mines, agriculture and wastewater works, among others,” Seitlholo said.
The duties assigned to the forum members include:
- The co-ordination and support of awareness building initiatives regarding water quality management in the Vaal River catchment.
- Ensuring adequate stakeholder participation in the forum processes.
- Investigating and recommending innovative and best applicable technologies to deal with water pollution.
- Enhancing collaboration with various institutions to improve the quality of the Vaal River.
- Providing support to the existing catchment forums in the Vaal River.
- Publishing reports on an annual basis to track the performance and implementation of recommendations and activities of the forum.
Seitlholo noted that the Vaal River is one of the largest rivers in South Africa and a popular tourist destination that is becoming increasingly contaminated with pollution from mining, industries, wastewater works, agriculture and other sources.
He said the establishment of the forum seeks to redeem the river to its former healthy standing of the past.
Seitlholo, who will be leading the anti-pollution drive across the country on behalf of the department, has since committed to ensuring that through the forum, polluters are taken to task and are held accountable for their actions.
Seitlholo reiterated that South Africa is a water-scarce country, which cannot continue to "treat people who do not respect this precious resource with kid gloves".
“Through the forum, we want to ensure that transgressors are brought to book so that they account for their crimes. Any person or entity that continues to pollute water sources will face the full might of the law,” Seitlholo said.
The Deputy Minister said the department will create a register with the names of polluters in the country.
He said the database will be used to keep a record of all polluters in the country, as well as their transgressions and actions taken against them.
“The National Polluters' Register will assist us to bring attention and pressure to polluters, with the hope that it brings change in their behaviour. The register will then be placed on the departmental website, where members of the public will be able to access it,” Seitlholo said.
