When confronted with the City of Mbombela’s (CoM) blatant disregard for the status of its water reserves, one cannot help but recall the words of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a mid-19th-century French critic, journalist and novelist who famously said: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Ageing infrastructure in small towns continues to deteriorate, and the local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is now in crisis.

Raw sewage is flowing directly into the Primkop Dam as well as rivers and streams in the area, critical water sources for the community.

This environmental disaster is made even more shocking by the fact that the municipality recently received the prestigious ‘Green Municipality’ award from Mpumalanga’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs.

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Fish in the dam are choking on toilet paper, and farmers have reported foul-smelling, used toilet paper in water canals.

The White River Valley Conservation Board has received numerous reports of fish dying in rivers and water sources around town. Complaints include heavily polluted water, with toilet paper and other solids floating in the river below Flamboyant School and at Haig Weir.

The situation has become so dire that the municipality’s continued flouting of environmental laws risks creating a major public health hazard.

On behalf of White River residents, Johan Heymans, chairman of the White River Rate Payers Association, spoke out:

“Since November 2023, nothing has been done – or even attempted – to fix or maintain the WWTP. It is now almost two years since waste has been flowing into the rivers and the town’s streets. All our pleas on behalf of residents and farmers have come to nothing as the CoM continues to ignore the situation.

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“As rate payers, we want the municipality to appoint a professional capable of fixing the problem once and for all. We are paying for these services. The municipality needs to take us seriously because the environment is being severely damaged, and this could become a major health hazard. If the situation had been addressed two years ago, it would not have escalated to this extent. We know the CoM has been aware of the situation from the start. We don’t have a Jetta machine to unblock the sewers – a necessity for any forward-thinking municipality. The public also wants to know what happened to the previous contractor, who was paid R9m to fix the problem.

“The stench hanging around the town worsens each day, and many residents have no choice but to drink the contaminated water, as they cannot afford to buy clean water. Providing safe drinking water is a basic human right under the South African Constitution.”

Proportional Representation for the African Christian Democratic Party at CoM Suzette Mouton, have lodged a case against the municipality for environmental damage, and the matter has also been reported to the Green Scorpions – the government division responsible for environmental compliance and enforcement – to investigate sewage contamination in local dams and rivers.

CoM spokesperson Joseph Ngala acknowledged the spillages at the White River WWTP. He explained that the old plant’s capacity is insufficient to meet current demand, and blockages are frequently caused by foreign materials being thrown into the system.

“A contractor was appointed to fix and expand the WWTP, but ran into cash-flow challenges before completing the work. The CoM has since appointed another contractor to finish the job,” Ngala said.

He added that environmental and aquatic specialists have assessed the environmental impact, and rehabilitation efforts will begin once the WWTP expansion is complete. Residents were urged to refrain from throwing items into the system.

Regarding threats of a criminal case against the CoM, Ngala said the municipality would respond if approached by law enforcement agencies.