The City of Tshwane has promised that the quality of water in Hammanskraal will improve by the end of August, although it says tests have shown that the water is safe for use.
Residents recently embarked on a violent protest over allegations that the water supplied by the City was a strange colour, smelt bad and was contaminated with cholera. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Thursday met with the City of Tshwane and the provincial department of water and sanitation to discuss the causes of the recent protest and to determine what steps the City and department had taken with regard to the residents' allegations.
The commission had received complaints from residents complaining that their right to clean water was being violated.
City of Tshwane member of the mayoral committee for utility services Darryl Moss said although various microbiological tests hadn't produced results indicating the water was not conducive for usage, new technology would be used to purify it. "The new technology will sort out all those issues [of smell and colour] and within the next month the water coming out of Temba will be as good as anywhere else in the world," Moss promised.
Temba is part of the greater Hammanskraal area.
Projects lined up
Gauteng region provincial head for the Department of Water and Sanitation Sibusiso Mthembu said problems with the water were seemingly as a result of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is poorly maintained.
"Two things we have highlighted that we have been engaging with the City about, even before the meeting, is that the wastewater plant urgently needs upgrades," Mthembu said.
He added that there had been undertakings from the City in terms of maintaining the treatment plant and improvements would be seen by the end of next month.
Moss added that the City had already embarked on a number of projects to improve the situation, including short-term maintenance processes and long-term plans to upgrade the plant and increase its capacity.
Mthembu added that the City would also submit an action plan covering short-term and long-term solutions for issues at the treatment plant.
SAHRC provincial manager Buang Jones said the commission, along with the department, had also decided that they would get together monthly to assess the progress of the purification of water.