Wastewater treatment plants are the main polluters of Gauteng’s water courses, says Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo, noting that the state of municipalities’ wastewater treatment works (WWTW) is contributing significantly to the widespread pollution.

The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS’s) Green Drop Report for 2022 and the progress report published in December 2023 highlighted the poor state of wastewater treatment systems, which has resulted in the presence of sewage in the streets, rivers and dams.

Addressing representatives of the Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Johannesburg metropolitans at a meeting in Centurion late last month, he urged the municipalities to prioritise improving the state of their WWTW infrastructure, ensure that they produce the required standard of effluent and obtain the necessary skills.

He highlights that the Vaal and the Crocodile rivers, in Gauteng, are vital to the South African economy, providing raw water for agriculture, domestic use, industry and mining.

Dams such as the Barrage, Vaal, Hartbeespoort and Roodeplaat also provide recreational and tourism opportunities that boost the development of the municipalities.

However, these dams are being threatened by pollution from wastewater systems, overloaded systems, pumpstation failures and sewer leaks from the municipalities, he explains.

“We have to make the necessary changes to turn this situation around and ensure that municipalities, as the water services authorities, have appropriate town planning and land-use management in place, to ensure adequate investment of revenue from the sale of water back into the operation and maintenance, refurbishment and upgrades of both water and wastewater treatment systems, including the distribution and collection components.”

The DWS, which provides financial and technical support to municipalities, is also urging the municipalities to respond to its directives.

The DWS, through its Water Use Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Directorate, will continue to strengthen its regulatory function and ensure regulatory actions are consistent so that municipalities address the problem of pollution in water courses.

The department is currently pursuing 88 criminal cases against municipalities, while the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is investigating numerous river pollution cases.

Seitlholo’s comments followed warnings in October about the presence of cholera in the raw water in the Harts and Vaal rivers in the North West and the Northern Cape.

Following this, Seitlholo met with different stakeholders and the executive mayors of the district municipalities whose wastewater systems discharge effluent into the rivers where the cholera bacteria was detected.

Follow-up sampling and tests, performed after the previous warning was issued, revealed that cholera bacteria (Vibrio Cholerae), albeit of a non-toxic strain, were present in the raw water.