A multi-stakeholder working group is set to be established to respond to the growing infestation of water hyacinth and Salvinia minima at Vaalkop dam in Rustenburg, in the North West province.

During an oversight visit to the dam late last month, Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo said that the planned working group will bring together the Department of Water and Sanitation, Magalies Water, the affected municipalities, environmental scientists and other critical partners.

“The combination of historically low water levels, the presence of invasive seeds and nutrient flooding created ideal conditions for the aggressive spread of the aquatic weeds,” he says.

The spread of the invasive species has been exacerbated by heavy rainfall, leading to high concentrations of nutrients flowing from upstream sources into the dam.

These include discharges from wastewater treatment plants, agricultural runoff, urban drainage and pollution from informal settlements and mining activities. Nutrients from bottom sediment recirculation have also added to the dam’s ecological load.

This has impacted the operations of the Vaalkop water treatment works, threatening water abstraction, treatment capacity and regional water supply.

“The [working] group will assess the scale of the infestation, recommend both immediate and long-term interventions and oversee the implementation of recovery plans for the dam and surrounding systems.”

Seitlholo committed to overseeing the complete removal of the infestation from the dam.

“I am taking personal responsibility to ensure that the infestation at Vaalkop dam is eradicated. We cannot allow pollution and negligence to cripple our water systems any further,” he says.

Additionally, to unlock the urgency, coordination and resources required to protect the country’s already stressed water systems, he aims to have water pollution declared a national crisis.

“I will also be proposing that water pollution be declared a national crisis. It is time we recognise that this threat affects the health, economy and future of our nation,” says Seitlholo, warning that South Africa can no longer afford to treat pollution as a localised or isolated problem.

Seitlholo also issued a stern warning to municipalities that are failing to meet their wastewater management responsibilities.

“Let me be very clear, municipalities that continue to pollute our rivers and dams with untreated waste are directly contributing to the destruction of our water resources. This negligence will not be tolerated.

“The department will intensify compliance monitoring, and where wrongdoing is found, there will be serious consequences,” he said.

This initiative is part of a broader departmental effort to strengthen environmental enforcement, restore infrastructure resilience and address the growing national threat posed by pollution and invasive species.

Seitlholo also plans to soon announce a set of coordinated and strategic national interventions to tackle the pollution of South Africa’s water sources and restore the health of critical water ecosystems.