By Tony Carnie

Trade unions are turning up pressure on the government to tackle the country’s dirty water “time bomb” as a matter of urgency – or face the prospect of national protest action.

The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa), the second-largest trade union group in the country, warned yesterday that the government was neglecting the management of clean water, including scores of overflowing sewage treatment works that should be placed in “intensive care”.

Fedusa said it would prefer to see the problems resolved in the interests of the public rather than embarking on protest action, but it had nevertheless served a warning notice on the government last month in terms of section 77 of the Labour Relations Act.

This allows worker groups to embark on protected strike/protest action to promote or defend socio-economic interests if grievances cannot be resolved by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

In a memorandum to the government, Fedusa said it was no longer a secret that South Africa’s water security was under threat.

“The media inundate us every day with news reports, pictures and film footage of raw sewage and industrial effluent being pumped blatantly into dams, streams and rivers, thus polluting one of our most precious natural resources to the extent that it poses a dreadful danger to all forms of life.

“Hardly a day goes by without reports of water purification and sanitation plants that have fallen into a state of disrepair, because local authorities no longer have knowledgeable people with the necessary expertise to maintain the plants.

“The result is unsafe water running from taps (particularly in rural areas) and disgusting sewage bubbling up from manholes in the streets of many towns.”

Despite the apparent culture of “total disrespect” towards water, this was not the time to play the blame game, but rather to work together to solve it.

“The fact is that 98 percent of South Africa’s available water supply is already fully utilised and the country is sitting on a time bomb which will affect each and every person within her borders. Enough has been said to confirm that we are dealing with a problem of gigantic proportions.”

Problems such as inadequate staffing, funding and expertise had been identified by the Water Affairs Department five years ago, while the department’s latest Blue Drop drinking water report showed that only 55 percent of municipalities managed to score higher than 50 percent.

The companion Green Drop report on waste water treatment suggested that 76 percent of municipal sewage works scored below 50 percent, while many had in effect scored zero.

The Fedusa report said 19 major dams across the country were highly polluted, scores of wild animals had died in the Kruger National Park from drinking polluted water and some farmers were unable to irrigate crops because river water was polluted.

To add to the problems, the Water Affairs Ministry was on record as stating that R100 billion was needed over the next three years to restore water infrastructure, but the available budget was only R26.8bn.

However, Nedlac has to try four times to resolve the grievances before protected protest action can begin. The first meeting was held yesterday in Joburg.

Leon Grobler, CEO of Fedusa affiliate the United Association of SA, said: “All our members need to drink water to survive and we see it as part of our duty to society to get involved and to ensure that the potential health impacts of drinking polluted water are avoided.”

He said the government had agreed to form a joint steering committee of Fedusa and government representatives, but had also requested a 30-day recess to consult government ministers and officials.

Fedusa also raised concern about the problem of acid-polluted mine water in Gauteng as well as chemical pollution from mines in Witbank and other parts of Mpumalanga.

Fedusa said the World Health Organisation calculated that about 3.4 million Africans died every year from drinking unsafe water or because of poor sanitation.

University of Stellenbosch health sciences epidemiologist Jo Barnes warned of the deadly health hazards of polluted streams, rivers and dams and said more emphasis should be placed on tracing pollution to its source.

“We need a commitment from all South Africans to seriously and visibly act fast to address the issues that are now threatening the lives of the poor,” she said.

Fedusa demanded that the Water Affairs Department identify dysfunctional water and wastewater treatment plants and place them in “intensive care” under a national project manager who should draw up a programme and prepare a budget to restore the water infrastructure.

The Water Institute of SA should also be approached to explore the possibility of fast-tracking the training of water treatment staff.

“The handover of ‘restored’ plants to the respective municipalities should be conditional on the correct staff being appointed and trained.”

The Water Affairs Department could not be reached for comment. – The Mercury