Water & sanitation deputy minister David Mahlobo said the government is going to start litigating against municipalities that pollute water sources and discharge billions of litres of effluent into water streams across the country.
Mahlobo said R2.8bn is needed to get these waste water treatment works into good working condition.
There are about 850 wastewater treatment plants in SA. KwaZulu-Natal accounts for 137, the Western Cape has 158, with 18 not performing well, and the Eastern Cape accounts for 123, with 48 operating below standard, the deputy minister said.
The country’s 257 municipalities have a fair share of dysfunctional wastewater treatment works, with many having fallen apart and discharging raw sewage into rivers, the ocean and environmentally sensitive areas.
Answering questions at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Wednesday, Mahlobo said: “The issue of water pollution is a matter we take very seriously. One of the things that’s going to happen is that SA won’t run out of water, but water won’t be safe to use because of pollution by industries and municipalities.
“Those who pollute must stop it, if not, we are going to prosecute them. Pollution is an offence.”
He was responding to a question from Michiel Adriaan Petrus de Bruyn of the Freedom Front Plus, who had asked the deputy minister what action would be taken against several municipalities in the Free State that have been polluting water resources for years, with raw sewage being spilt into Gariep Dam, the largest dam in SA.
“We have agreed with [the department of co-operative governance & traditional affairs] that these municipalities must be supported [to] improve their plants and capacity so that they discharge effluent that is acceptable,” said Mahlobo.
DA Limpopo delegate to the NCOP Christiaan Frederik Beyers Smit asked the deputy minister: “SA has had enough of your excuses and fancy plans. South Africans want to know, here and now, what are you doing to fix your mess and hold people around [you accountable]?”
Mahlobo said: “There is a turnaround plan.” Municipalities will be supported as a joint effort with the department of co-operative governance, the SA Local Government Association (Salga) and the department of water & sanitation. “We won’t play with the lives of our citizens.”
EFF delegate Mbulelo Jonathan Magwala suggested to the deputy minister that the government has no capacity to fix the dysfunctional treatment plants, to which Mahlobo retorted that the plants do not belong to his department.
“All wastewater treatment works belong to water services authorities and other public entities, not [the] department. Our responsibility is to do an assessment and make sure they meet their licence requirements.
“You can point a finger at the ANC, but the ANC is addressing these problems. We do admit there are shortfalls but we are on the ground covering every corner of our country.”
The government allows 5-billion litres of untreated or partially treated sewage to go into rivers every day, according to Anthony Turton, a water expert at the University of Free State.
In September, Mariette Liefferink, CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, an NGO seeking solutions to sewage pollution of streams and rivers, lodged a complaint with Unesco over raw sewage emanating from the malfunctioning Percy Stewart Waste-water Treatment Works and flowing through he Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
Liefferink called on the international body to intervene in the sewage pollution of the environmentally sensitive area.
The pollution, which is threatening the ecosystem and local tourism and has become a health hazard, has existed for years despite Mogale City officials acknowledging a formal complaint from an association fighting to preserve the area.
A cholera outbreak that killed more than 20 people in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, in May was blamed on the Rooiwal plant, which started malfunctioning after receiving volumes greater than it could handle. The plant has been discharging untreated or partially treated sewage into the Apies River, which flows into the Leeukraal Dam, the main source of water for the town of about 20,000 people.
In June, the ministers of water & sanitation, finance, environment, and co-operative governance as well as the Gauteng premier and the Emfuleni Local Municipality and its municipal manager were ordered by the courts to stop pollution of the Vaal river and its tributaries from the municipality’s malfunctioning wastewater treatment system. The court order came after years of raw sewage from the plant spilling into the Vaal river and its tributaries.
In 2021, there was mounting pressure from business, tourism and the public over a raw sewage spill into Durban harbour, which posed a threat to beaches along the popular Golden Mile coastline and prompted the eThekwini municipality to have all key pump stations made exempt from load-shedding.
In June 2021, the main pump station in the heart of the upmarket tourist and business hub at Umhlanga’s McCausland Crescent, north of the city, malfunctioned and led to a wastewater spillage.
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