Voëlpan Dam becomes ‘stinkpan’ of despair after failed actions

For decades, Voëlpan Dam in Nyakallong in the Free State has been central to the area’s mining and wastewater infrastructure.

The dam, which locals referred to as “stinkpan”, was used by mines for water management but has since degenerated into a source of distress.

Numerous interventions to rescue residents from years of pollution and flooding crisis have seemingly failed, with documented concerns over mining-related water discharge and failing municipal sewer infrastructure.

A 2023 Free State High Court in Bloemfontein judgment records that water had been discharged into Voëlpan Dam by Harmony’s Target Operations from 2019.

Harmony acknowledged the discharge in correspondence with the department of water and sanitation, which later investigated the matter.

The department received a complaint in September 2022, and conducted an inspection on 20 October that year.

According to the court record, officials observed water overflowing from Harmony’s operations into the dam, and the department subsequently issued a directive on 30 March 2023 concerning the discharge and requiring measures, including the preparation of a rehabilitation plan.

Harmony challenged the directive, and the court suspended its operation pending the specified legal process. The court did not itself make a finding that Harmony had caused all of the pollution experienced by residents.

A view of the dam.

A crisis

The mining-related water problem, however, has occurred alongside a long-running municipal sanitation crisis.

Matjhabeng local municipality’s own planning documents show the Voëlpan sewer pump station as non-operational, flooded and vandalised, with sewage discharging into the pan.

The municipality has not responded to questions.

Government records cited in the court proceedings show rising water levels affected the Allanridge and Nyakallong communities.

Tender goes out

In July, Vaal Central Water advertised a tender for the refurbishment of the Nyakallong/ Allanridge wastewater treatment works, covering civil, mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation work.

The tender calls for the civil, mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation refurbishment of the plant, which has an estimated treatment capacity of 3.5 megalitres a day.

According to the tender document, the facility receives sewage from Nyakallong, Allanridge and surrounding areas through both gravity and pumped systems, and is intended to treat the wastewater to general standards before the treated effluent is discharged into Voëlpan.

The scope includes refurbishment of the treatment process, inlet works, screening equipment, biological treatment infrastructure, sludge pumping, chlorine dosing and contact facilities, as well as electrical, control and instrumentation systems.

Contractors are also required to undertake building works, roads and stormwater improvements, testing and commissioning, staff training and preparation of an operations and maintenance manual.

Empty promises

But resident Annah Kunene said they will believe it when they see it because they have been given empty promises for so long.

“The relocation process was supposed to be completed last December, but to date people are still forced to live on the verge of death,” she said.

Kunene said the tender would likely be awarded after the local elections in November.