The team of experts must also determine how the remediation must be done. The mines will be approached to contribute financially towards the remedial work to be done.

Mr Marius Keet, deputy director: water quality of the department of water affairs and forestry, informed Mrs Mariette Liefferink, of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE), of the above developments in December 2007.
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) will ensure that all water use licenses are issued to the mines as soon as possible in an endeavour to stop radiological and other contamination of the Wonderfontein Spruit. The National Nuclear regulator (NNR), on the other hand, will more strictly control discharges from the mines.

This development is the latest in a dispute where some cattle farmers next to the spruit were considering to kill their cattle and burn the meat because the meat and milk has been contaminated by radioactive sediment in the spruit.

Elise Tempelhoff of Beeld has reported that Mr Sas Coetzee, of the farm Blaauwbank outside Welverdiend has said that they had no other choice as there is no market for the cattle after the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has warned farmers that their cattle may not drink the water.

Mrs Liefferink says that 120 years of pollution by the gold mining industry has caused parts of the sediment in the spruit to contain elevated levels of the heavy metals cadmium, uranium, copper, cobalt and arsenic.

The WRSC was formed after a public outcry in many forums, such as the Wonderfontein Catchment Management Forum, the Wonderfontein Action Group (WAG), as well as during the Potchefstroom Mayoral Imbizu. The WRSC, consisting of officials of all the relevant Departments (like DWAF and the NNR) as well as the local municipalities, will steer the whole remediation process.