South African municipality slapped with massive fine for consistent sewage pollution

The eMalahleni Local Municipality has been fined R650 million, of which R150 million was suspended, for allowing untreated sewage to flow into rivers and dams for years.

Handed down by the Mpumalanga High Court, the fine was imposed after the municipality pleaded guilty to environmental offences in terms of the National Environmental Management Act and National Water Act.

The municipality is home to around 435,000 people, with its population long enduring water and sanitation woes.

The negligence of municipal infrastructure resulted in the discharge of raw, untreated sewage into several areas.

This includes Ferroglobe Silicon Smelters, Witbank Dam, the Naauwpoort River, Steenkoolspruit, the Klein Olifants River, and ultimately the Olifants River, for over a decade.

The ruling includes a requirement that a portion of the fine be ring-fenced for the rehabilitation and urgent repair of wastewater infrastructure, to the value of R500 million. 

Municipality spokesperson Lebohang Mofokeng added the fine was “an indicative figure that the municipality needs to refurbish and upgrade its infrastructure”.

“The municipality will not be paying the R650-million fine but must apply for an MIG [municipal infrastructure grant] and from the Department of Water and Sanitation to get grants of the said amount to upgrade its infrastructure,” he said.

“Furthermore, the municipality will be appointing effluent inspectors to monitor and ensure compliance by local industries and businesses.”

Advocacy group WaterCAN has welcomed the ruling, but urges that this must be the start of a nationwide crackdown on municipal polluters and the individuals who enabled them.

It added that the judgment sends a strong signal that municipalities can no longer poison South Africa’s water resources with impunity but warned that “only fining the institution is not enough”.

“For far too long, communities have paid the price while officials who presided over collapsing wastewater systems move quietly into new positions,” said WaterCAN Executive Director, Dr Ferrial Adam.

“There must be direct, personal consequences for those who signed off on, ignored or concealed unlawful discharges – not just for the municipality as a legal entity.”

WaterCAN wants:

• Officials nationally held personally accountable, a national audit and enforcement drive;
• Wider use of criminal prosecutions;
• Rehabilitation orders against non-compliant municipalities; and
• Full transparency with regular public reporting on all agreements, plans and ring-fenced spending.

“You should not be able to preside over the slow poisoning of a river in one town and then take up a senior job in another municipality as if nothing happened,” Adam added.

“The principle that ‘polluters must pay’ must apply to individuals in leadership and management positions, not only to institutions.”

WaterCAN says South Africans’ constitutional right to a safe environment and the National Water Act offer a solid legal framework, but enforcement has been inconsistent or missing.

The organisation argues the case proves what coordinated action by communities, regulators and prosecutors can achieve, and calls for the same urgency nationwide, with municipalities and responsible officials held to account.