Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont near the site of the Green Point Marine Outfall, where the City of Cape Town discharges raw sewage into the sea.
Dumelang, Molweni, Sanibonani, Goeie More, Good morning;
It is good to stand on this iconic Sea Point Promenade today and enjoy a sight that so many visitors from around our country and from across the world come to experience.
Sites like this should not be taken for granted. The truth, despite all of the City’s efforts to cover it up, is that Cape Town is on the brink of becoming the next eThekwini.
For those who do not know what that means, let me tell you about my home town of Durban. A multi-year sewage crisis has led to the collapse of Durban’s domestic tourism industry, with annual tourist numbers dropping from 15 million in 2015 to just 800 000 in 2023. A once-booming hospitality industry is on its knees, and its beaches are regularly closed because of high E. coli counts in the water, where people now swim at their own risk.
If you think this is far-fetched for Cape Town, let me paint the picture for you. Cape Town pumps an estimated 27 litres of raw, untreated sewage into its coastline every day through marine outfalls in Camps Bay, Green Point and Hout Bay. Beaches are increasingly being closed when winds blow these floating islands of sewage ashore, and reports of beachgoers getting sick are increasing in frequency. These outfalls discharge sewage into a marine protected area, despite environmental legislation in our country making this a criminal offence, and ocean life is being destroyed by harmful chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
And just like Durban, the crisis is exacerbated by a city government in denial. The City of Cape Town has claimed that it does not need to comply with environmental legislation because these laws were adopted in 2004 and the marine outfalls predate them by over 100 years. What it fails to mention is that Cape Town’s population, and its sewage outflows, have doubled since 2004. The City intimidates
anyone who dares to raise these issues, as well as journalists who dare to cover them. Unfortunately for the City of Cape Town, ActionSA will not bend the knee.
I stand here today at this iconic viewpoint to report that ActionSA has made submissions to an appeals body established by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment against the issuing of new licences in 2023 for the City of Cape Town to continue pumping raw, untreated sewage into the ocean. We made these submissions alongside scientists, civil society organisations and research institutions that have presented compelling evidence that something has to change.
ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals body addressed the following three areas:
1. The City of Cape Town has repeatedly violated its licensing conditions, as revealed by a PAIA application submitted by ActionSA. This application showed that the City exceeded its daily discharge limits on the Hout Bay outfall pipeline on 107 days out of a 180-day review period, with some days recording double the legal limit.
The City’s own response further revealed that it does not meet licence conditions for water quality testing and does not conduct prescribed tests for toxins such as arsenic, cyanide and mercury. The City also fails to report when discharges exceed legal limits and has not convened a Permit Advisory Forum to provide oversight of its compliance with permit conditions.
Effectively, ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals panel urge the Department to recognise that issuing licence conditions to a City that flagrantly ignores them is pointless. Criminal cases for environmental breaches have similarly proven ineffective, with the NPA imposing fines on cities that are ultimately paid for using public funds. This is why ActionSA has called on the appeals panel to take firm action against the City of Cape Town, as this process represents the last meaningful avenue for accountability on this matter.
2. The City of Cape Town’s excuse that it cannot afford to treat sewage before discharge reflects a lack of political will by a City boasting an annual budget of R84 billion. The party that governs Cape Town regularly campaigns on the fact that the City has the largest capital budget in the country, exceeding R12 billion annually.
At the same time, the City aggressively increases service charges on residents and levies sewage charges on households, which are used to cross-subsidise non-sewage-related costs. The City appears eager to plead poverty when it does not want to fulfil its responsibilities, while being willing to tax residents out of their homes to fund preferred projects.
The reality is that Cape Town could address this crisis if the political will existed, but it does not. Instead, the City has only recently committed to a vague, multi-year sewage treatment feasibility study and subsequent implementation that is dependent on the availability of finance, with no firm timeframe.
3. Breaches of sewage discharge licences are not merely technical compliance issues. These infringements constitute daily violations of South Africans’ constitutional rights. These include the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing and the right to economic development, both of which the City of Cape Town undermines daily.
Furthermore, the argument that sewage outfalls predate environmental legislation can no longer serve as a justification for the discharge of raw, untreated sewage into a marine protected area that is home to, among other species, the African penguin endemic to this region.
ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals panel were accompanied by environmental experts, civil society organisations and residents’ groups that made technically detailed submissions addressing the rapidly developing sewage crisis. All of these groups have acted reasonably for many years, understanding that solutions cannot be implemented overnight, yet all have experienced the arrogance and impunity with which DA governance in the City of Cape Town operates.
ActionSA is deeply concerned that this appeal has taken more than two years to be heard, during which time approximately 20 billion litres of raw, untreated sewage have been discharged into Cape Town’s waters in breach of licence conditions. Also of concern is that this matter falls under a ministry controlled by the same party that governs Cape Town, raising real fears that the process may be used to protect political allies, as is believed to be reflected in the recent Cabinet reshuffle affecting this department.
ActionSA will continue to fight this matter against an arrogant majority government in Cape Town and within an opposition environment that remains silent on this issue. It is clear that comfortable majorities have bred arrogance, impunity and a profound disconnection from the residents of this city.
As a party, ActionSA is prepared to pursue this matter all the way to the highest courts.
ActionSA Makes Appeal Submissions To DFFE Panel On Cape Town Being Full of Sh#T
Note to Editors: These remarks were delivered by ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont near the site of the Green Point Marine Outfall, where the City of Cape Town discharges raw sewage into the sea.
Dumelang, Molweni, Sanibonani, Goeie More, Good morning;
It is good to stand on this iconic Sea Point Promenade today and enjoy a sight that so many visitors from around our country and from across the world come to experience.
Sites like this should not be taken for granted. The truth, despite all of the City’s efforts to cover it up, is that Cape Town is on the brink of becoming the next eThekwini.
For those who do not know what that means, let me tell you about my home town of Durban. A multi-year sewage crisis has led to the collapse of Durban’s domestic tourism industry, with annual tourist numbers dropping from 15 million in 2015 to just 800 000 in 2023. A once-booming hospitality industry is on its knees, and its beaches are regularly closed because of high E. coli counts in the water, where people now swim at their own risk.
If you think this is far-fetched for Cape Town, let me paint the picture for you. Cape Town pumps an estimated 27 litres of raw, untreated sewage into its coastline every day through marine outfalls in Camps Bay, Green Point and Hout Bay. Beaches are increasingly being closed when winds blow these floating islands of sewage ashore, and reports of beachgoers getting sick are increasing in frequency. These outfalls discharge sewage into a marine protected area, despite environmental legislation in our country making this a criminal offence, and ocean life is being destroyed by harmful chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
And just like Durban, the crisis is exacerbated by a city government in denial. The City of Cape Town has claimed that it does not need to comply with environmental legislation because these laws were adopted in 2004 and the marine outfalls predate them by over 100 years. What it fails to mention is that Cape Town’s population, and its sewage outflows, have doubled since 2004. The City intimidates
anyone who dares to raise these issues, as well as journalists who dare to cover them. Unfortunately for the City of Cape Town, ActionSA will not bend the knee.
I stand here today at this iconic viewpoint to report that ActionSA has made submissions to an appeals body established by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment against the issuing of new licences in 2023 for the City of Cape Town to continue pumping raw, untreated sewage into the ocean. We made these submissions alongside scientists, civil society organisations and research institutions that have presented compelling evidence that something has to change.
ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals body addressed the following three areas:
1. The City of Cape Town has repeatedly violated its licensing conditions, as revealed by a PAIA application submitted by ActionSA. This application showed that the City exceeded its daily discharge limits on the Hout Bay outfall pipeline on 107 days out of a 180-day review period, with some days recording double the legal limit.
The City’s own response further revealed that it does not meet licence conditions for water quality testing and does not conduct prescribed tests for toxins such as arsenic, cyanide and mercury. The City also fails to report when discharges exceed legal limits and has not convened a Permit Advisory Forum to provide oversight of its compliance with permit conditions.
Effectively, ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals panel urge the Department to recognise that issuing licence conditions to a City that flagrantly ignores them is pointless. Criminal cases for environmental breaches have similarly proven ineffective, with the NPA imposing fines on cities that are ultimately paid for using public funds. This is why ActionSA has called on the appeals panel to take firm action against the City of Cape Town, as this process represents the last meaningful avenue for accountability on this matter.
2. The City of Cape Town’s excuse that it cannot afford to treat sewage before discharge reflects a lack of political will by a City boasting an annual budget of R84 billion. The party that governs Cape Town regularly campaigns on the fact that the City has the largest capital budget in the country, exceeding R12 billion annually.
At the same time, the City aggressively increases service charges on residents and levies sewage charges on households, which are used to cross-subsidise non-sewage-related costs. The City appears eager to plead poverty when it does not want to fulfil its responsibilities, while being willing to tax residents out of their homes to fund preferred projects.
The reality is that Cape Town could address this crisis if the political will existed, but it does not. Instead, the City has only recently committed to a vague, multi-year sewage treatment feasibility study and subsequent implementation that is dependent on the availability of finance, with no firm timeframe.
3. Breaches of sewage discharge licences are not merely technical compliance issues. These infringements constitute daily violations of South Africans’ constitutional rights. These include the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing and the right to economic development, both of which the City of Cape Town undermines daily.
Furthermore, the argument that sewage outfalls predate environmental legislation can no longer serve as a justification for the discharge of raw, untreated sewage into a marine protected area that is home to, among other species, the African penguin endemic to this region.
ActionSA’s submissions to the appeals panel were accompanied by environmental experts, civil society organisations and residents’ groups that made technically detailed submissions addressing the rapidly developing sewage crisis. All of these groups have acted reasonably for many years, understanding that solutions cannot be implemented overnight, yet all have experienced the arrogance and impunity with which DA governance in the City of Cape Town operates.
ActionSA is deeply concerned that this appeal has taken more than two years to be heard, during which time approximately 20 billion litres of raw, untreated sewage have been discharged into Cape Town’s waters in breach of licence conditions. Also of concern is that this matter falls under a ministry controlled by the same party that governs Cape Town, raising real fears that the process may be used to protect political allies, as is believed to be reflected in the recent Cabinet reshuffle affecting this department.
ActionSA will continue to fight this matter against an arrogant majority government in Cape Town and within an opposition environment that remains silent on this issue. It is clear that comfortable majorities have bred arrogance, impunity and a profound disconnection from the residents of this city.
As a party, ActionSA is prepared to pursue this matter all the way to the highest courts.