1. (a) There are 16 Wastewater treatment works (WwTW) in operation in Joe Gqabi District in the Eastern Cape Province.
(b) The exact location of each treatment plant is presented with GPS Coordinates in Table 1 below:
Table 1: Location of treatment plants in Joe Gqabi District Municipality
Description |
WwTW Type |
Observation |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Aliwal North WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Prime Condition |
-30.6799448770 |
26.7160608150 |
Mount Fletcher WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Vandalised |
-30.6838888890 |
28.5105555560 |
Maclear WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Prime Condition |
-31.0605555560 |
28.3377777780 |
Maclear WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Vandalised |
-31.0607090030 |
28.3378840060 |
Prentjiesberg WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Operational |
-31.1886054290 |
28.2514474910 |
Steynsburg WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Operational |
-31.2844444440 |
25.8075000000 |
Oviston WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Operational |
-30.6964892960 |
25.7636853450 |
Burgersdorp WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Prime Condition |
-31.0058333330 |
26.3380555560 |
Jamestown WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Prime Condition |
-31.1419444440 |
26.8075000000 |
Sterkspruit WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Vandalised |
-30.5169444440 |
27.3686111110 |
Sterkspruit WwTW |
Package plant |
Operational |
-30.5169444440 |
27.3686111110 |
Lady Grey WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Prime Condition |
-30.7094444440 |
27.1825000000 |
Barkley East WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Operational |
-30.9652777780 |
27.6044444440 |
Barkley East 2 WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Operational |
-30.9521538460 |
27.5953846150 |
Herschel WwTW |
Activated sludge |
Operational |
-30.6109075780 |
27.1590028000 |
Ugie WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Operational |
-31.1880555560 |
28.2500000000 |
(2)(a) The Mount Fletcher, Maclear and Sterkspruit Waste Water Treatment Works are currently being monitored by my department as they are not functioning properly.
(b) The three treatment works are not functioning optimally due to poor operations and maintenance, overloading and the challenge of vandalism as indicated in the table below:
Table 2: Plants that are not functioning optimally and the reasons thereof:
(a) Not functioning optimally |
Process |
(b) Reasons not functioning optimally |
Mount Fletcher WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Poor O&M, Overloading & Vandalism |
Maclear WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Poor O&M, Overloading & Vandalism |
Sterkspruit WwTW |
Oxidation ponds |
Vandalised |
(3) Yes, the three WwTW not functioning optimally are discharging partially treated effluent into the local streams. Table 3 below shows the local streams into which each plant (as mentioned above) discharges partially treated effluent.
Table 3: Streams/Rivers impacted by partially treated effluent
WWTW not functioning optimally |
River |
Mount Fletcher WwTW |
Tokwana River |
Maclear WwTW |
Mooi River |
Sterkspruit WwTW |
Sterkspruit River |
The Department, through the Eastern Cape Regional office has been in communication with the local municipalities to resolve this issue. Non-compliance letters requesting the action plan to address the issues were sent to the local municipalities. The action plan will be monitored by the Department.