“It comes from Lephalale,” says Deidré Carter, executive head of Agri Limpopo, referring to the algae-like greenness and unpleasant smell that reappeared in the Limpopo River’s water less than a month ago.
By Jasper Raats, Senior Journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
With more than 17 000 official residents, two Eskom power stations and the Grootegeluk Coal Mine, supported by numerous industrial service companies, Lephalale is a large town in Limpopo in terms of its economy and population, which is closer to 160 000 when settlements in the greater municipal area are included.
It was previously known as Ellisras, named after the Ellis and Erasmus families who initially settled here on the banks of the Mokolo River. The town was renamed Lephalale in 2002, which means “the river that flows” or more literally “to flow” in the Sepedi language family.
The Mokolo was always known for its clean water and was a lifeline for farmers who plant crops, vegetables and fruits along the river. Some of the tastiest watermelons in South Africa are grown along the Mokolo River and sold across the country. The Mokolo River flows from Lephalale in a northeastern direction before joining the Limpopo River about 100km further.
Farmers Must Make Plans
After the first reports of the Limpopo River suddenly becoming polluted with green and foul-smelling algae in July, residents of Lephalale contacted Agri Limpopo. They brought large-scale sewage dumping by the municipality into the Mokolo River to Carter’s attention.
She says the Limpopo River is already under severe pollution pressure from rivers such as the Crocodile, which flows from Gauteng to the Limpopo, and farmers must regularly take water samples to ensure the water is safe for irrigating their crops. However, the Mokolo River’s impact is more direct than the inflow from Gauteng.
“Our members who irrigate from the Limpopo say they now have to manage their irrigation water in storage dams at great cost, and when necessary, filter it to be able to produce safe food.”
PT van Staden, who farms near Lephalale and supplies irrigation systems to farmers, confirms this. “The first thing a supermarket chain asks when a farmer wants to supply fresh produce to them is a water certificate showing their irrigation water is safe for food production. That’s why many of my clients spend enormous amounts on filtration systems to irrigate from the river.”
Since the first greening of the Limpopo River in July, farmers reported the river turned green again for several days in August. This corresponds with the dates of a series of video and photo contributions African Farming received from Lephalale residents showing how municipal contractors pump sewage from pump stations directly into the stormwater system. All stormwater flows down to the Mokolo River.
Farmers along the Limpopo say they’re used to green algae forming on the river water when it stops flowing, but the green they’ve been dealing with in recent months is like algae dissolved in the water; not stringy slime that floats on the surface.
Another farmer between the Nzhelele and Sand rivers confluence with the Limpopo described the water as “clear turquoise.” He warned in July already that it could be the result of severe sewage dumping somewhere.
Also read: Limpopo River: It’s green and it smells – so what about irrigation?
Van Staden regularly takes water samples from the Mokolo River and has them analysed. He says there have recently been unacceptably high E. coli levels in the water. He also rents out a house in town, where his tenants record when sewage from the pump station right next to the house floods the yard. These dates also correspond with the times when farmers along the Limpopo complain about the green water.
In a voice message, his tenant reports that the sewage was making bubbling sounds in the pipe this week, which typically indicates that the system will overflow at this pump station again within a day or two.
Municipality Claims Sewage Problem Solved
The Lephalale municipality’s head of infrastructure, April Shiko, acknowledged that the town’s main sewage pump station, opposite the Palmpark Hotel, previously caused problems and that there were “leaks,”. He said the pump station has recently been repaired and says the town’s sewage problems are solved.
However, African Farming met Lawrence Tlhako, a former colleague of Shiko, the previous day, when he and his workers were busy at this pump station. Tlhako, who previously headed the municipality’s infrastructure department, now works as a contractor for the city. He confirmed the new pumps installed at this pump station still don’t work and that there’s a “delay” at the municipality. He didn’t want to say what it was, though.
Shiko was head of the municipality’s water department when Tlhako was head of infrastructure.
Shiko also denies that the municipality ever pumped any water into the stormwater drainage system. Still, African Farming took photos and videos at one pump station in the lower town of a pipe from the sewage pump being pushed into the stormwater pipe’s maintenance hole to do precisely that.
Also read: When taps run dry: Facing South Africa’s water reality
Straight Into The River
The sewage flows are easy to follow where they flow through the stormwater system, and African Farming took numerous photos and video clips of sewage flowing into the Mokolo River at various places.
JD Nel, a DA councillor in the town, took a video of sewage being pumped into the stormwater drain on a sidewalk on 15 August.
Ruan de Jager, a concerned resident and aspiring councillor, accompanied African Farming to the location where the dumping took place and showed where the dirty water flows past more than one pump station toward the river.
One business owner told how she has already spent more than R700 000 on earthworks to make the sewage flow in just one stream across her property. “It created a swamp here on my doorstep, and it stinks so badly you can’t breathe. I’m now tired of fighting with the municipality. You don’t get anywhere anyway. Now I’ve just dug a trench, so the dirty water from Pump Station 1 only runs in one place across my property.”
Just behind this property is another stormwater pipe from the pump station, where African Farming saw sewage being diverted with a pipe from the sewage system to the stormwater system. At the last drainage hole before the pipe discharges into the river, the 1.2m long pipe lies about half full of dammed-up sewage water. The pipe between this drainage hole and the river is blocked.
Another resident says their family doctor has placed their family on an Ivermectin course for internal parasites. “It’s almost impossible to avoid the sewage, so we would rather take the medication preventatively.”
Not far from these residents, Hans Aspeling and his family live in a house with a view of a playground. Due to another problematic pump station right next to the park, which often overflows, this family must regularly close all their doors and windows and stay inside because of the stench.
Further downstream, another stormwater pipe discharges into a channel. Between the channel and the river lies a white mass of sewage waste, and the area resembles a salt pan.
Also read: Schoolgirls address water issues with innovative water purification system
More Expensive Dirty Water
The residents say despite the power stations and the mine, Lephalale was once a beautiful and pleasant town to live in. It is surrounded by game farms and was previously visited by professional hunters from around the world. Guest houses flourished, but according to one guest house owner, visitors complain about the smell and don’t return once they’ve stayed there.
Another resident who keeps game along the river says there have been sudden and unexplained deaths among his ostriches, nyalas and reedbuck in the past year. He’s convinced the animals ingested the sewage water, which also runs across his property and now plans to fence off the sewage flow so the game can’t access it.
The town’s water future doesn’t look rosy. At a recent special city council meeting on infrastructure, Lephalale’s mayor, Aaron Mokgetle, reportedly warned that the existing sewage works won’t keep up with the town’s expansion, especially considering the two new Hope housing projects whose first houses will be handed over soon.
“So, with the Department of Water and Sanitation wanting to add an increase of up to 10.5% on water infrastructure costs to farmers’ bills, the farmers downstream from this incompetent municipality must pay even more for dirty irrigation water that they must purify at their own cost,” says Carter.
