22 Sep 2020

 Kgatleng District Council chairperson Mr Daniel Molokwe says the high fish mortality that was recorded in the Notwane River in August has been attributed to poor water quality.

In his opening speech during Kgatleng full council session in Mochudi on Moday, he said when Department of Wildlife and National Parks was made aware of the situation, fisheries expertise was sought from Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security.

“Their assessment ruled out the possibility of any disease being the cause of mortality and the matter was further taken for testing by Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control who have since released their assessment report attributing the source of the problem to water quality,” he said.

He said the office had since escalated the matter to departmental headquarters to find means of engaging relevant authorities to map way forward on the matter.  

Molokwe said wildlife and national parks office in-conjunction with Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security and Department of Forestry and Range Resources made efforts to rid the river of dead fish as much as possible, and ten casual laborers were engaged to assist officers during the exercise. Ends