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Story by Ground Up
Ignoring the needs of those who voted the current government into power, nothing has changed in more than a decade for residents of Carolina. More than 3 500 houses are affected as E.Coli infestation of the town’s water, continues to wreak havoc on the health of inhabitants.
Scared of drinking the contaminated water flowing from their taps, residents of Silobela Township are forced to buy bottles of water from a church with a borehole, kilometres away. It costs R15 for 20 litres and 140 litres are needed every fortnight just to cook with and drink. Also, for those without transport, arranging for transport is another financial outlay. For the poorest of the poor, these are not even options and they simply suffer the health hazards.
Makhaza Ntuli, a community leader in Carolina’s Silobela Township, who lives with his elderly mother and son, said he borrows his brother’s bakkie so he can load containers to fetch clean drinking water. The discoloured water is used only for laundry and to bath in. However, with the high E.Coli content in the water, it leads to rashes and severe itching.
Sadly, another 3,500 households in Carolina share the same problem. According to a pharmacist in Caroline, the itching and rashes are a direct result of the contaminated water. “The rash goes and comes back again. I’m not the only one suffering from this kind of a rash in the area,” Ntuli said. When he asked the municipality about the causes of the water contamination, he was told it is caused by sewage spillages into the rivers and dams.
Independent tests, undertaken by the Water Community Action Network (WaterCAN), an environmental lobby group and the Carolina Eco Green Economy, in September 2023, showed that tap water in Silobela was contaminated with Escherichia coli (E. coli), a faecal bacteria from people’s stools, which can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach cramps.
Dr Ferrial Adam, executive manager at WaterCAN, said an inspection of the streams and dams around Carolina found that they were not only contaminated with sewage, but also plastic and rotten animal carcasses. “We are urging people not to drink the water until we redo the tests soon. If we find the same results, the municipality will have to inform the community that they must boil the water before using it to avoid contracting diseases,” said Adam.
WaterCAN’s tests also showed contamination of the Boesmanspruit Dam, Carolina town’s water source just as those sampled from several taps in Ndebele Street in Silobela, which tested positive for E.coli. The results showed that “it is unsafe to drink or use the water from some parts of Carolina,” said Adam.
Resident, Edward Zitha, a member of the non-profit organisation, Carolina Eco Green Economy, said they have tried in vain to force the municipality to provide clean water. In 2012, the Federation for Sustainable Environment and the Silobela Concerned Community took the Albert Luthuli Municipality, which governs Carolina, to the North Gauteng High Court to compel it to provide clean drinking water. Despite Judge Moses Mavundla ordering the Municipality to supply clean drinking water, 14 years later nothing has changed.
Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality’s spokesperson, Thapelo Phetla, said the Municipality is currently conducting water analysis on a daily basis on-site. “Our chlorination system is functional and addresses the issue of macro organisms. The Municipality does a monthly analysis in an independent lab. On the issue of sewer spillages, we normally address this as and when they are reported.”
