eThekwini Municipality slammed after beaches flooded with sewage due to treatment plant failures

The decision by the eThekwini Municipality to reopen several beaches that had been closed due to ongoing high E. coli levels, has been called into question by water experts, the DA and ActionSA.

Last week, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the decision to reopen the beaches in Durban was due to improved water quality standards: “… Recent water tests conducted by experts confirmed that beach water is at an acceptable level for recreational activities.”

But this week, ActionSA eThekwini caucus leader Alan Beesley said E. coli readings at the Country Club beach were more than double what is considered to be the “critical” level.

“The latest readings from Talbot, an independent laboratory, taken on the 3rd November 2022 show that Country Club beach had an E. coli level of 1,267 CFU/100ml. With the critical E-coli level being 500 CFU/100ml this beach should have been closed to beachgoers, yet it remains open,” he said.

Last week, DA ward councillor Sakhile Mngadi accused the municipality of dishonesty, saying that with 17 of 23 major sewage pump stations still not working, eThekwini was putting people’s lives at risk by opening the beaches.

“My advice to residents is to stay away from the beaches until independent tests can verify the claims of the City. Treat all information regarding this as unverified until independent scientists can provide unbiased reporting.”

Benoît le Roy, a wastewater management expert with 40 years’ experience and CEO of the South African Water Chamber, told GroundUp there has long been a question over the competency of water sample collectors and the testing process.

In September, Daily Maverick reported discrepancies with the sewage pollution levels reported by the municipality.

Le Roy also questioned the qualifications of companies used to collect and test water samples, and said the public should have transparency on the matter.

“The entire chain of custody needs to be carried out by independent, accredited persons,” he said.

The beaches opened last week included Point, uShaka, Addington, South, Wedge, North, Bay of Plenty, Battery, Country Club, Brighton, Reunion, Pipeline, Toti Main and Warner.

Westbrook, Bronze, Laguna Beach, Thekwini, uMhlanga, uMdloti and uMgababa beaches remain closed.

Data from the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Integrated Regulated Information System reveals that of the 14 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, 10 (71%) regularly fail to comply with minimum wastewater treatment standards. The department’s system rates them as “bad” (achieving compliance less than 50% of the time) or “poor” (complying with minimum effluent standards between 50% and 70% of the time). This untreated and partially treated sewage is released directly into KwaZulu-Natal’s rivers, and in some cases directly into the ocean.

According to the department’s system, in eThekwini, 75% of the 27 sewage treatment plants it operates are failing to treat effluent to minimum standards. They have the capacity to release 761 million litres of untreated or partially treated sewage into the rivers and ocean per day.

The system shows two sewage treatment works, Central and Southern, together have the capacity to release 461 million litres of effluent directly into the ocean per day. Both of them have a 0% compliance for microbiological treatment, which is the indicator for E. coli and other faecal bacteria.

These figures should alarm public health officials who should be holding the respective departments accountable and finding immediate solutions for rehabilitation, said Le Roy.

Nationally, billions of litres of untreated and partially treated sewage are released into the environment daily. “This is not discussed by government, to my knowledge, as it would be seen as a clear admission of guilt, which it would be,” he said.

Methodology for calculating the volume of untreated sewage in eThekwini

• There are 27 listed wastewater treatment plants in the municipality;


• We added the capacity of each plant, which amounted to 842,840,000 litres per day;


• We then added together all the plants that had a poor to bad rating, 21 in total, which amounted to 760,540,000 litres of improperly treated sewage being discharged in receiving environments per day.