ActionSA Welcomes CoCT’s Long Overdue Commitment to Introduce Treating Sewage Before Discharge into the Sea
Michelle Wasserman
ActionSA Western Cape Provincial Chairperson
ActionSA welcomes the announcement made by the MMC for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, that the City of Cape Town has undergone a change of heart and has now committed to “introduce treatment processes to the Marine Outfalls”, following intense pressure by ActionSA and activist groups.
This announcement follows continuous denials by the City and its officials regarding the dumping of untreated sewage into the sea through the Marine Outfalls, despite clear evidence from their own data and experts highlighting this practice’s harmful environmental and public health impact.
In November 2023, ActionSA filed criminal charges against the City of Cape Town for violating the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, following our discovery of the City’s unlawful non-compliance with the stipulated requirements outlined in the Hout Bay Marine Outfall Permit. Importantly, this revealed the shocking truth about the City’s operation of the Marine Outfalls and, more significantly, their harmful impact.
We believe that our criminal charges, together with the intense campaigning by residents and scientists, appear to have produced the desired outcome. In an about-turn, MMC Badroodien’s response to a Facebook post criticising the City’s denial of the impact of Marine Outfall Pipelines, states that the City is now “driving a change agenda to introduce treatment processes to the Marine Outfalls.”
While we welcome this announcement, ActionSA will actively monitor every single aspect of the City’s commitment to ensure that it is in the interest of safeguarding both residents and our natural environment. Accordingly, we will be writing to MMC Badroodien, to seek insight into the exact plan the City has drawn up to advance their “change agenda.”
ActionSA Welcomes CoCT’s Long Overdue Commitment to Introduce Treating Sewage Before Discharge into the Sea
ActionSA welcomes the announcement made by the MMC for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, that the City of Cape Town has undergone a change of heart and has now committed to “introduce treatment processes to the Marine Outfalls”, following intense pressure by ActionSA and activist groups.
This announcement follows continuous denials by the City and its officials regarding the dumping of untreated sewage into the sea through the Marine Outfalls, despite clear evidence from their own data and experts highlighting this practice’s harmful environmental and public health impact.
In November 2023, ActionSA filed criminal charges against the City of Cape Town for violating the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, following our discovery of the City’s unlawful non-compliance with the stipulated requirements outlined in the Hout Bay Marine Outfall Permit. Importantly, this revealed the shocking truth about the City’s operation of the Marine Outfalls and, more significantly, their harmful impact.
We believe that our criminal charges, together with the intense campaigning by residents and scientists, appear to have produced the desired outcome. In an about-turn, MMC Badroodien’s response to a Facebook post criticising the City’s denial of the impact of Marine Outfall Pipelines, states that the City is now “driving a change agenda to introduce treatment processes to the Marine Outfalls.”
While we welcome this announcement, ActionSA will actively monitor every single aspect of the City’s commitment to ensure that it is in the interest of safeguarding both residents and our natural environment. Accordingly, we will be writing to MMC Badroodien, to seek insight into the exact plan the City has drawn up to advance their “change agenda.”