Following my visit last month to the Obed Nkosi RDP housing development in Ratanda, near Heidelberg in east Gauteng, the Vaal-Orange Catchment Management Agency (VOCMA) has given Lesedi Local Municipality 14 days to explain why it should not be issued with a formal directive over sewage pollution in Ratanda and the Blesbokspruit River.
On 20 August, two days after I raised the issue on my visit, officials from VOCMA confirmed that raw sewage was overflowing from manholes into the Blesbokspruit. Local residents call it a “poo lake”.
VOCMA CEO Lerato Morake has written to the municipality in a letter dated 1 September 2026 that: “The observed discharge of raw sewage into the Blesbokspruit creates a potential risk of pollution of the water resource and surrounding environment, including potential impacts on surface water, soil, and groundwater resources.”
The Blesbokspruit flows into the Suikerbosrand River, which in turn flows into the Vaal River, an integral source of Gauteng’s water supply.
If the Lesedi municipal manager does not respond to VOCMA within 14 days, the municipality will be ordered to:
- Stop releasing wastewater into the Blesbokspruit immediately, unless it can prove it has authorisation.
- Submit a plan to VOCMA showing how it will repair its infrastructure and stop sewer spills.
- Appoint a professional to plan and cost the rehabilitation of land affected by the sewage spills.
- Implement that plan within 30 working days of VOCMA’s approval.
This is not a new problem. Other parts of Ratanda have lived with sewage in their streets and homes for years. On my visit I met Mrs Primrose Thokwane on Hlatshwayo Street, who showed me the sewage spill inside her house. She says it has been there for more than 40 years. She has raised this repeatedly with the mayor and ward councillors, but nothing has been done.
Until Lesedi stops the spills and repairs its infrastructure, residents of Ratanda will continue to live with overflowing sewage and the threat it poses to their health and dignity.
I will continue to press Lesedi Municipality to take effective action in this matter.