Consortium offers free fix to Kamfers Dam crisis

A CONSORTIUM has proposed a plan to drain excess water from Kamfers Dam at apparently no cost to the city, while also employing local labour and skills.

The near-threatened lesser flamingo, once a major international attraction at the pan, has since vanished due to the toxic water. Overgrown reeds have also made the dam invisible from some sections of the N12 road.

Botulism is believed to have caused the deaths of more than 150 birds that were collected around the Kamfers Dam pan in December 2024. The flamingo wetland sanctuary on the farm has also been destroyed as a result of the ongoing pollution.

According to the consortium, they are able to source funding from Transnet and other investors, as the contaminated water threatens to submerge two railway lines and road infrastructure along the N12.

Business partners in the consortium have requested to remain unnamed at this stage.

A representative of the consortium stated that they were unable to proceed without approval from Sol Plaatje Municipality.

“We made a presentation to the municipality but were informed that a tender would have to be adjudicated before anything can be done. It will not cost the municipality a cent — we only require their permission and the use of their workforce. We would like to partner with the contractors involved in the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) water upgrade project to fix the problem.”

In terms of a court order, the municipality was instructed to submit a progress report by May 30 outlining steps taken to ensure that the Homevale Wastewater Treatment Plant was fully functional and that unacceptably high sewage spillages around Kamfers Dam were reduced.

The municipality was also ordered to address the high E coli levels and the overflow of water at Kamfers Dam.

Adrian Horwitz, legal representative for property owner Brenda Booth of Northern Cape Ranchers CC - who filed a claim against Sol Plaatje Municipality for environmental and financial damage on her land caused by overflowing sewage since 2020 - confirmed that a progress report had been submitted to the court by the set deadline.

“A tender will be advertised to repair the Homevale Wastewater Treatment Plant. However, it is concerning that unacceptably high volumes of untreated sewage are still being pumped into the pan.”

Ekapa environmental specialist Ester Westhuizen-Coetzer indicated that if the correct water balance was maintained and properly managed at Kamfers Dam, there was a possibility that the lesser flamingo could return to the wetland.

No response was received from Sol Plaatje Municipality at the time of publication.