Municipal failure the cause of SA's sewage mess

Municipal dysfunction is at the heart of the sewage problem that has swamped many SA towns and townships and polluted its rivers, writes Legalbrief. The settlements and waterways have been engulfed by unattended sewage spills that, in some cases, have contaminated the water supply systems of municipalities due to decaying infrastructure and lack of maintenance by councils. According to a report in The Citizen, this comes against the backdrop of the recent admission in a report by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize that at least 55 municipalities are distressed or dysfunctional. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) had been alerted to the mass sewage spills in some areas, including Zastron in the Free State and an informal settlement in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. In the Northern Cape, Barkley West Primary School in De Beershoogte was last week closed by the Labour Department after a sewage spill caused by the collapse of the municipal sewerage system. Also in the Northern Cape, amid protests by residents against Sol Plaatjie mayor Mangaliso Matika, there were complaints about widespread sewage spills in the Galeshewe township and Roodepan in Kimberley. In Mogale City in Gauteng, a formal complaint was lodged with the Green Scorpions to probe the failure of the Krugersdorp-based municipality to repair a damaged sewerage plant in the local industrial area. The sewer was overflowing on to the streets and many residents complained. ‘The collapse of Emfuleni’s administration is evident in the vast extent of raw sewage running through the towns and suburbs that make up the Emfuleni municipality, the larger of these being Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sharpeville and Bophelong, as it makes its way to the Vaal River,’ said Dr Makhosi Khoza, the Organisation against Tax Abuse’s executive director on local government. Khoza said they welcomed the plan by Mkhize to deploy teams of engineers and town planners in dysfunctional municipalities but they were concerned his plans would not go to the core of the problems and were unsustainable. She attributed the problems to lack of leadership and appointments that were not suitable to drive efficient and stringent administration of municipalities. ‘We liken this situation to putting plaster across a gaping wound,’ Khoza said.

The cash-strapped Emfuleni local municipality, currently under administration, risks being dragged to court again for failing to stop raw sewage spillages into the Vaal River. Save the Vaal Environment (SAVE) vice-chair Maureen Stewart said this was the worst crisis for the river yet, adding the watchdog had obtained nine court orders against the municipality over the years, notes a report in The Star. The recent interdict was granted in February by Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) Judge Bashier Vally, stopping the municipality from allowing raw sewage from the wastewater management system and sewer reticulation system into the river’s catchment area. ‘SAVE will return to court if immediate action is not taken to deal with the disaster. As we speak, the municipality is in contempt of court. The pollution, which poses a risk to people’s health, has been going on for far too long, and we demand action. Daily 150 megalitres of raw sewage is flowing into the Rietspruit and Vaal rivers. Sewage pollution has flowed downstream beyond Parys. This town relies on water from the Vaal River, which is treated for domestic use,’ Stewart said.

Two separate statements issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation about sewage spills and fish kills in the Vaal River near the Barrage, provided ‘grossly inaccurate’ and ‘misleading’ information to the public. According to a report in The Star, this is contained in two open letters sent to Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti last week, which seek to document how little authorities have done to prevent the Vaal sewage pollution crisis, explains Stewart. The letters to Nkwinti detail how a statement on 7 August, which the Department of Water and Sanitation removed and which was written with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, suggested fish kills in the river may have been related to seasonal weather changes causing a ‘drastic drop in temperature’. This caused lower oxygen levels in the water, the departments said. But in its open letter, SAVE told Nkwinti the author of this statement was either ignorant or dishonest. ‘We are concerned that the statement is intended to mislead the public, and more seriously, to mislead you,’ SAVE wrote. ‘The truth of the matter is that the river between the Vaal Dam and Parys is so polluted at present it retains very little natural function, and it is no surprise that fish are suffocating in what has become an open sewer. Your department is well aware of these facts and you should be, too,’ SAVE said. A subsequent statement issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation on 13 August painted a misleading picture as well. ‘The problems referred to, namely the incapacity of municipalities, especially the Emfuleni municipality, to maintain wastewater management systems and the incapacity/non-performance of the Sebokeng regional sewer scheme arose many years ago,’ said SAVE’S Malcolm Plant. ‘The current crisis has been building up since then due to a lack of action on the part of the DWS and Emfuleni local council’s lack of funds, due largely to mismanagement over many years,’ he said. ‘What SAVE objects to is the impression created in the media release that your department is in control of matters. It is not and hasn’t been for years,’ Plant wrote.

The large-scale pollution and degradation of the Jukskei River – one of the largest rivers in greater Johannesburg – is a metaphor for a failed state at national, provincial and municipal level, water resource expert Professor Anthony Turton has warned. According to a Cape Times report, Turton said: ‘The only way to turn it around is for the regulatory authority, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), to implement the law without fear of favour, for the provincial government to exercise its oversight role in a way that is consistent with the Constitution, and for the municipal government to show political will to listen to the grievances of the people on whose behalf they have been mandated to govern.’ Sputnik Ratau, the department’s spokesperson, said the regulation branch, through its Gauteng and North West provincial operations, had engaged with the City of Tshwane, City of Ekurhuleni and City of Johannesburg to address the water quality issues in the Hennops and Jukskei rivers, and in Hartbeespoort Dam. In October last year, the department issued the Northern Farm sewerage works with a directive for polluting the Jukskei River. Anthony Duigan, a founding member and chair of the non-profit organisation Action for Responsible Management of Our Rivers, said the organisation worked towards responsible management of rivers and waterways in Gauteng by working with the relevant authorities. ‘We want to be a voice for water and encourage the public to be the same. We all need to start taking active responsibility on our pieces of the river,’ he said.

The Department of Water and Sanitation said last week a number of issues surrounding the non-performance of Sebokeng Regional Sewer Scheme (SRSS) are being looked into and proper planning towards their resolution is being put in place. According to an SA News report, the department said: ‘This includes ongoing engagement with the local community to update it on progress and the importance of the scheme working. This resulted in the blockade of the scheme being lifted and the technical staff being allowed back on site.’ To ensure the security of the infrastructure, the department said Nkwinti has decided to approach the President to declare the SRSS a national key point. This will lead to not just heightened security around the facility but its operations not being interrupted by civil strife. The department said the local municipal had not effectively operated and maintained the plant effectively. Measures are being put in place to ensure that not only Module 6 of the SRSS is completed, but that Modules 2-5 are also brought back to full capacity.