The South African city with regular water and power outages was fined R650 million for dumping raw sewage into rivers

The residents of the Emalahleni Local Municipality are affected by daily water and power outages, while they have to pay exorbitant rates and taxes.

Emalahleni councillor Sharon Schlachter said that the situation is deteriorating as the municipality faces financial problems.

“The Municipality issues no proactive notifications of service disruptions. Residents are left in the dark, unable to plan their daily lives,” she said.

She said that the scale of the crisis the Emalahleni Local Municipality faces is shocking and will not be fixed overnight.

For example, nearly 50% of the town’s water is lost due to leaks, ageing pipes, and illegal connections.

Reservoirs regularly run dry, water pressure is often too low, or the supply stops completely. Residents also complain of dirty, cloudy tap water.

The sewerage system is also inadequate to handle the load. Consequently, raw sewage flows into streets and even through residents’ properties.

In November 2025, the Mpumalanga High Court fined the Municipality R650 million for years of dumping raw sewage into rivers.

It is not only water which is a problem. One-third of the Municipality’s electricity is lost due to old transformers, meter tampering, and vandalism.

The Municipality owes Eskom more than R12 billion, while only about half of the residents pay their utility bills.

Refuse removal services have also collapsed in many areas, leaving garbage bags lying in the streets for weeks.

“These failures violate residents’ constitutional right to clean water, a healthy environment and fair service delivery,” Schlachter said.

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Emalahleni Local Municipality photos

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