The South African Human Rights Commission will conduct a public inquiry into the state of the water in the City of Tshwane on Monday.
Residents and business communities laid a complaint against the city. Farmers and businesses are reportedly to have been affected by the contaminated water and resulted in loss of revenues and business opportunities.
Residents in Hammanskraal using boreholes are highly affected by the polluted water; the study was concluded last year. The water tested from the river contains high level of E.coli and the results showed high E.coli is harmful to babies and to people with weak immune systems.
The commission decided to probe the water pollution in Hammanskraal and the state of water in South Africa as a whole. The public is called upon to participate in the inquiry and local residents say the metro attributed the pollution of the dam to cable theft in 2017.
The investigation is followed by the negative results of water test conducted by the CSIR in Hammanskraal, however, the utility services MMC, Abel Tau was ordered to apologise to the commission writing after he accused it of being irresponsible by prematurely announcing the water results.
The commission provincial head, Buang Jones said, “The inquiry will examine how the state of wastewater treatment plants impact on quality and other human rights.” The provincial commission head also added that the people who contributed to the state of water pollution must be held accountable for their actions. The municipality was first presented with the results of water contaminated tests by CSIR on June 20, and residents of City of Tshwane will be given a platform participate in the commission of inquiry that is held at the City of Tshwane.
