Sewage as well as animal blood and offcuts are apparently being dumped into the Vaal River, The Weekender reported on Saturday.

An abbatoir in Frankfort was pumping animal blood and offcuts into its evaporation dam which was in turn seeping into the Vaal River, Freedom Front Plus Mafube municipality councillor Peter van der Westhuizen said.

“We saw a large area of red in the water.

“We are conducting tests to establish exactly what is causing it”.

A member of the Blue Scorpions Nigel Adams confirmed the dumping of the animal offcuts, saying it had first been noticed during an aerial survey.

Van der Westhuizen also said court orders since 2004 had not managed to get the municipality to repair broken pipes and water purification works which were allegedly causing sewage to ooze over the ground that leads into the Vaal River.

Water scientist and activist Professor Anthony Turton said sewage, in particular, was causing a build-up of blue-green algae containing microcystims which are deadly. Read the full story