Politics
SAHRC report reveals severe sewage crisis in parts of Eastern Cape – SABC News
The South African Human Rights Commission has released a scathing report into failing wastewater infrastructure and the contamination of rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters in selected areas of Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Kouga Municipalities in the Eastern Cape.
The commission says sewage pollution poses a serious risk to public health, the environment, and residents’ constitutional rights.
The Buffalo City Municipality bore the brunt of the report, as West Bank produced the most severe result, recording E. coli of 616 000 per 100 millilitres and near-total oxygen depletion.
Eastern Cape SAHRC Head, Dr Eileen Carter, says, “We are of the view that the municipalities can’t answer this through plans or infrastructure announcements while these polluted waters continue to reach our rivers and beaches. But we have now also been calling on the Department of Water and Sanitation as well as Environmental Affairs to perhaps consider enforcement directly and where the evidence supports it, criminal prosecution.”
Buffalo City Municipality Spokesperson, Luzuko Buku, says the metro acknowledges the 14-day deadline the commission has given them to come up with an emergency intervention plan.
“Westbank was never an issue for us as a municipality. There were a number of interventions done at the site, it is only recent that it was vandalised. It is just unfortunate that this happened when the commission was busy with its test. It’s unfortunate for us and the residents. Already there are engineers there to do the work.”
Makana Municipality
Meanwhile, the SARCH last month released a report into the long-standing water and sanitation crisis in the Makana Local Municipality.
The report found that some communities are still forced to rely on the bucket system more than three decades into democracy, describing the situation as a gross violation of human rights.
It further recommeded that the municipal council be dissolved, arguing it has failed to adequately serve the needs of its residents.
