10 Jul 2018

 North East District Council will embark on a massive inspection of all farms located on the banks of Shashe River to find out how owners dispose of waste from their activities.

This follows an incident in which a pig farm owner on the banks of Shashe River near Mathangwane, was spilling pig waste into the river, thus causing a health hazard.

North East District principal public relations officer, Mr Caiphus Gabana told BOPA in an interview that the piggery owner has since dug a receptacle to treat his pig waste, ending months of a persistent foul stench.

Mr Gabana explained that the inspection needed to be speeded up because ‘it looks like there are many activities in these farms, which can pollute the river, which feeds Shashe Dam”

He said Mathangwane elders, including the Headman of Record, Kgosi Batisani Moeti and environmental department officers from North East District Council met with the owner of the farm last week to rectify his mistake after they got a report from Kgosi Moeti.

Mr Gabana stated that at the time of the visit, they found an excavator on site digging a receptacle because the other receptacle was full and spilling waste into the river.

He said they had requested the Department of Water Affairs to assess the damage caused on the river and environment so that proper charges can be laid against the pig farm owner.

Meanwhile, a quick survey showed the gravity of the problem to other sources of life within its environs.

A site of a particular concern is Badume well, within the enclave of the river, where livestock and small stock drink, which was covered with pig waste at the time of the visit and smelled like a blocked drain.

Authorities were met with an ‘exceptionally malodourous air’ and tiny particles of pig droppings could be seen floating on the water.

Principal to this issue is water contamination brought by the effluence from the pig stalls, as well as associated diseases that the effluent can bring to both residents and livestock.  

Kgosi Moeti explained that the well, which holds water for a long time, is a source of life for the villagers and their livestock.

He said he decided to engage officers from the council environmental department so that proper controls can be put in place because the problem had been ongoing for the past six months.

Kgosi Moeti however, complained that although he had dug a receptacle in his farm to rectify the mistake, the farmer did not follow the required standard such as putting a plastic at the bottom of the receptacle.

He said this would not prevent  the contamination of the soil and nearby sources of water such as boreholes and the river. ENDS