TAU-SA wants anwers on water pollution

Agricultural union TAU-SA wants answers on whether the Director of Public Prosecutions intends prosecuting three cabinet ministers who had criminal charges laid against them over the pollution of the country's water supply, it said.

"TAU SA also wrote to the Independent Complaints Directorate requesting feed-back of the police investigation into the matter," said its general manager Bennie van Zyl.

The union laid the charges against Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Mining Minister Susan Shabangu and Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, on May 7 last year.

Its chairman Louis Meintjes said at the time that all three had repeatedly failed to address the water pollution problem.

Meintjies said Sonjica should have acted in line with the National Water Act and that Shabangu should have known that mining, water supply and food security were directly linked.

He said the Act provided that it was criminal for ministers to knowingly or unintentionally allow for natural resources to be jeopardised.

On Tuesday, Van Zyl said the case was not properly investigated and that consequently answers to all complaints submitted were expected.

"The South African authorities do not realise the gravity of the situation caused by polluted water," he said.

Both the National Prosecuting Authority and the ICD could not immediately confirm or deny receiving the letter from the union.