The harbour at the Port of Port Elizabeth where effluent water can be seen.
Warning:
This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
Atenkosi Plaatjie
Zwembesi Oyster Farm, situated just 1 km north of the Port of Port Elizabeth, spends more than R20 000 a month testing their oysters due to sewage spilling into the ocean.
The company filed a R34millionlawsuit against the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) in 2015 for loss of income due to sewage leaking into the ocean. This had occurred between 2011 and 2012 from the Baakens Valley and forced theOyster Farm to shut down production for almost two months.
The Oyster Farm's, Simon Burton, who has been harvesting oysters for over 22 years, says the business used to be able to sell oysters straight from the sea to consumers but now they have had to put extra-precautionary measures in place to ensure the product is safe for human consumption.
Burton told AlgoaFM News that the farm had to build a packing facility to store the oysters in tanks with clean filtered water to give the oysters enough time to purge if they have been contaminated.
The farm's permit requires them to test oysters, fresh from the ocean, once a month, while the products from their tanks must be tested weekly.
Burton says they now test their oysters twice a weekat an additional cost to the company to make sure they are safe for consumption.
He wants the Metro to at least let them know when there is a sewage leak so they can plan accordingly but says they have failed to do so over the years.
Algoa FM News went to the Harbour at the naval basein mid-February where visibly brown wastewater with a pungent smell was seenpouring out of a large storm-water drain into the ocean.
According to Burton, it had been flowing non-stop for three days.
Transnet Ports Authority
Algoa FM News also approached Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) who said they had done an inspection on their pump stations andcould confirm that effluentflowing into the oceanwas not from their corporation.
Transnet corporate affairs and customer relations manager Sakhiwo Tetyana saysthat after theirmost recent inspection they reported the matter to the relevant authorities for further investigation and resolution.
Zwembesi Oyster Farm Director John Wright says while they cannot say where the sewage comes, the farmstill experiences spills from time to time.
Wright says the civil matter has been put on hold as the Metro has proposed a settlement but that they have not heard anything further fromthe Municipality in quite a while.
Rushmere Noach's Director of Commercial and Litigation Judy Theron is defending the lawsuit on behalf of the Municipality.
She told Algoa FM News that there is no liability on the part of the Municipality and declined to comment further on the matter.
NMB spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said he had not received a report from the Metro's legal department on this matter at the time the article was published.
Wilderness Foundation Africa
FormerNMB Business Chamber President and environmentalist, Dr Andrew Muir, who leads the Wilderness Foundation Africa,says he is aware of the ongoing sewage problem in the Baakens Valley.
Dr Muir, who has now established the Eastern Cape Climate Coalition, says he believes this particular wave of sewage spillage into theBaakens Valley area is partially due to power outages.
"As you know not only have we lost power through outages butcable theft is also causing additional electrical surges and outages. That'sputting pressure on the pump station and we believe its one of the main reasons for the spillages,” he said.
Dr Muir further blamed ageing infrastructure as the pipelines that runthrough the Baakens Valley were built 50-70 years ago and ongoing maintenance isn't resolving the problem.
One of the climate coalition's priorities is the Baakens Valley restoration project which the Business Chamber believes could create jobs.
WESSA
Wildlife and Environment Society of SA(WESSA) Algoa Bay branch chair, Gary Koekemoer,posted a video showing raw sewage flowing in the middle section of the Baakens Valleyfor 2 kms up toDodd’s Farm in August last year.
Koekemoer says it is his understanding that the pump station cannot cope with capacity and excess sewagebeing pumped into the Baakens Valley.
He says the sewage then flows into the riverand ultimately the ocean where it affects oysters and other sea creatures.
"We get similar complaints from the Beachfront where stormwater drains send sewerage into the sea,” said Koekemoer.
He says councillorsfrom both the current and previous administration have been made aware of the issue on numerous occasions.
A resident Neville Smith, who lives in Glenhurd has been documenting the sewage spills into the Baakens Valley on his daily walks. This video was taken on the 5th of February 2022 #BaakensValley#Sewagepic.twitter.com/pnoi8DONjj
