AfriForum's 2024 Water Quality Report: A Call for Urgent Action in South Africa

AfriForum's recently released 2024 Blue and Green Drop report reveals a critical situation concerning South Africa’s drinking and wastewater quality, signaling potential health hazards and the need for immediate governmental and communal intervention. Launched at the Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Works, the site of an ongoing water pollution crisis, the report underscores the escalating mismanagement in water services across numerous municipalities.

This year’s report, marking its 12th iteration, surveyed 210 towns for drinking water quality (Blue Drop) and 150 wastewater treatment works for sewage treatment quality (Green Drop). The findings were alarming: While 87% of the drinking water tested is still within safe consumption limits, this represents a steep decline from last year’s 96%. Even more concerning is that sewage treatment compliance is at a mere 13%, indicating that a vast majority of wastewater facilities are not treating sewage adequately before it is discharged back into the environment.

The presence of harmful bacteria like E. Coli and faecal coliforms was a key metric in these assessments. These contaminants pose severe health risks, including diarrhoea, nausea, and potentially fatal illnesses such as typhoid and kidney failure, highlighting the critical nature of these findings.

The regional impact is profound, with unsafe drinking water reports spanning all nine provinces – a significant increase from the previous year’s findings limited to just Mpumalanga, the Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal. Notably, the report this year adds Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal to the list of provinces where not a single plant met minimum green drop standards, joining the Free State and the Eastern Cape from last year's report.

Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s advisor for Environmental Affairs, pointed out that the consistent decline in water quality over the past five years offers a grim outlook for the future unless drastic measures are taken. Lambert de Klerk, manager for Environmental Affairs at AfriForum, criticized municipal management and highlighted the chronic underperformance due to inadequate management, insufficient funding, and poor infrastructure upkeep.

De Klerk stressed that government efforts alone are insufficient to address the water crisis effectively. Instead, a collaborative approach involving all levels of government, private sector, and local communities is crucial for devising a sustainable solution.

This pressing report serves as a clarion call to all stakeholders in South Africa to prioritize the rehabilitation and stringent management of the nation’s water supply and sewage systems to safeguard public health and environmental integrity.