Cape Town — The government is in a race against time to come up with a plan to halt acid mine drainage within the next 17 months before the polluted mine water reaches the critical level of 150m below the streets of Johannesburg.

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica and a team of officials said yesterday that the western basin was already decanting mine water into rivers and that the central basin was filling at a rate of 0,35m a day with the rainy season on the way. Ms Sonjica said the situation had not yet reached crisis proportions and that estimates of only two months before the acid water reached the streets was alarmist.

Marius Keet from her department said at present the acid mine drainage was at 550m below the surface and the critical level was at 150m, giving the department a leeway of 400m before crunch time.

But the department's rehabilitation budget was "a pittance" compared to what was needed for the rehabilitation of the problem mines. M ore than R200m would have to be found urgently and a short-term solution implemented within the next 17 months, Ms Sonjica said.

She was addressing the media after the first meeting of an inter- ministerial committee - including Planning Minister Trevor Manuel and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan - had called for experts to analyse the situation and come up with a solution which could be presented to the Cabinet within six weeks.

Asked where the money would come from, Ms Sonjica said the "government has to find a way of coming up with the money because we must in order to avert a crisis situation developing". She said that because current environmental protection laws were not in place at the time of most of the mining, and many of the mines were ownerless and derelict, the government would have to carry about 70% of the costs, with the private sector picking up the rest.

She stressed that the problem was the result of more than 100 years of mining.

Ms Sonjica also took aim at some of those claiming that the acid mine water would reach the streets of Johannesburg sooner than in 17 months, saying that "their motive is to make money and while we have been inundated by requests from those who say they can solve the problem we are suspicious of some of their motives".

Democratic Alliance water and environment spokesman Gareth Morgan said acid mine drainage "is already flowing from the surface in the West Rand at several million litres a day, and is likely to increase as the rainy season approaches.

"Further it has been acknowledged by the Department of Water Affairs itself in a briefing to the portfolio committee of water and environmental affairs that (acid mine drainage) is rising in the central basin. It is therefore possible that before any sustainable solution is instituted the (acid mine drainage) below Johannesburg (which sits on top of the Central Basin) could have risen above the environmentally critical limit of 150m below the surface. Getting the solution right first time is vitally important. If the ultimate response is ineffective there may not be time to formulate an alternative. At the same time choosing the most effective response quickly is important when considering the immediate and future risks that (acid mine drainage) poses".