Environmental concerns rise as Cape Town secures extended deadlines for Milnerton Lagoon upgrades

In the ongoing saga of the Milnerton Lagoon’s ecological collapse, the Western Cape MEC of Environment, Anton Bredell, has granted the City of Cape Town up to three more years to comply with long-overdue upgrades.

This is despite a 2021 directive stating that no further deadline extensions would be entertained without a high court appeal.

The decision has sparked debate among environmental activists and affected communities, who see it as a dangerous precedent and a failure of regulatory enforcement.

For years, the lagoon and the lower Diep River have suffered from dangerously high pollution levels, posing health risks to anyone in contact with the water. The foul stench has led residents to report respiratory symptoms, sinusitis and headaches, particularly among vulnerable groups.

Ongoing pollution into the Milnerton lagoon and the Diep River has made the lagoon and its surrounding environment effectively dead. (Photo: Kristin Engel)

Read more: City of Cape Town finally launches project to restore heavily polluted Milnerton Lagoon environment

The directive and the extensions

In 2021, the provincial Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA and DP) issued a directive to the city, setting out strict timelines for infrastructure upgrades and pollution remediation at the Milnerton Lagoon and lower Diep River.

These timelines were intended to be final, with the only avenue for further extensions being an application to the high court. MEC Bredell has now extended the deadlines, citing a range of factors.

The extensions granted are as follows:

1. The city was directed to update the action plan to expedite the upgrading of the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) by the end of August 2025. It has been granted an extension until 31 December 2027.


2. The city was directed to update the action plan to expedite the upgrade of the Koeberg Road Pump Station by 1 June 2024. It has been granted an extension until 30 June 2025.


3. The city was directed to expedite the upgrade of the Koeberg pump station to be completed by 31 December 2025 and provide the department with monthly updates on the progress of the upgrade. It has been granted an extension until 31 December 2028.

Western Cape Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)

According to Bredell, the city requested an extension based on construction timelines and contractual programmes for the Potsdam WWTW and Koeberg pump station upgrade, as well as significant delays in the Montague Gardens bulk sewer line upgrade.

These delays were attributed to extortion, cable theft, vandalism, load shedding, unforeseen geotechnical conditions and environmental challenges, as well as uncertainties over the terms of reference for the rehabilitation of the lower Diep River.

Environmental advocacy group RethinkTheStink, which has been extensively involved in holding authorities accountable for inaction on the Milnerton Lagoon, said that the delays due to construction and contracting might be partially understandable, but they were not unforeseen.

“Proper planning, budgeting and procurement should have accounted for these. What’s missing is urgency, transparency and credible project management,” said Caroline Marx and Peter Walsh, representing the group.

Bredell’s 2021 appeal decision was described as “functus officio” – meaning it was final and could be revisited only through the courts.

However, he told Daily Maverick that the city had exercised its right to apply for extensions through section 47(C) of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema), which allowed the MEC to extend or condone a failure to comply with a period specified in the Act, except when the period bound the MEC themselves.

Bredell said that the department’s senior counsel confirmed that, as long as the directive did not impose a timeframe on the MEC’s office, the MEC could extend deadlines for compliance.

However, RethinkTheStink questioned the validity and transparency of the legal opinion that influenced Bredell’s decision. It contends that environmental law was not meant to facilitate indefinite postponement and that section 47C was being misapplied to override a directive that had already been deemed final.

“This sets a dangerous precedent. If compliance deadlines in legally binding directives can be continuously moved, it renders environmental enforcement toothless. It tells polluters across the province that consequences can be avoided through administrative negotiations, not action and legal accountability,” said Marx and Walsh.

Zahid Badroodien, the City of Cape Town’s member of the mayoral committee for water and sanitation, told Daily Maverick that from the time of the initial directive, they had always maintained that the timeframes needed to be aligned to actual project timeframes for practical completion, and that this had now been “amended accordingly”.

“Upgrades continue to proceed along planned timelines for completion as soon as practically possible, notwithstanding any delays in authorisations or processes outside of the city’s control,” Badroodien said.

He said the city was committed to delivering these projects within established timelines and restoring the health of the Milnerton Lagoon, and had been submitting monthly progress reports to DEA and DP detailing implementation measures and any pollution incidents.

“The city’s project timeframes have not been extended; rather, the modified/appeal directive now correctly reflects these established timeframes aimed at delivering complex multibillion-rand infrastructure upgrades in the shortest possible time, also taking into account dependencies on authorisations and processes outside of the city’s control,” said Badroodien.

Badroodien referred to the Potsdam WWTW upgrade, which he said was proceeding on schedule. While the full benefits of this upgrade were set to be realised by 2027, he said some process units had been fast-tracked for completion by mid-2025 to improve effluent quality.

He said Phase 1 of the Koeberg pump station project was progressing well, with an expected completion date of June 2025, which would enhance its performance.

Enforcement and penalties

Bredell said that because the city requested extensions before their deadlines lapsed, no punitive measures were necessary. But if the city failed to meet the new deadlines, noncompliance was an offence and could result in criminal action.

RethinkTheStink said the city missed the 1 June 2024 deadline to expedite the upgrade of the Koeberg pump station, and with the extension until 30 June 2025, said the city “has clearly not been compliant”.

Marx and Walsh say the absence of enforcement speaks volumes. The city’s non-performance, they argue, should not be rewarded with more time, but should face sanctions.

“The department should have issued penalties under section 28 of Nema for ongoing non-compliance, pursued civil enforcement through the courts, or appointed an external administrator to take over the remediation programme,” they told Daily Maverick.

But Badroodien said that the city had from the outset pointed out that the completion dates included in the initial directive were not practically aligned to the established project timeframes for completion, taking into account all dependencies.

RethinkTheStink said Green Scorpions investigations had been thorough and professional, but the unwillingness of political roleplayers to enforce their own directive was questionable.

“It demonstrates more willingness to accommodate political agendas than to uphold ecological or public health standards. Accountability has been weak and the community is suffering as a result,” said Marx and Walsh.

RethinkTheStink confirmed it was exploring legal avenues, including challenges under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and Nema.

Independent experts and monitoring

To monitor compliance, the city provides the department with monthly reports, including water sampling results and progress updates on infrastructure upgrades.

Bredell said his department’s environmental management inspectors conducted frequent site inspections to verify reports and ensure that required measures were implemented.

The city holds quarterly community information sessions to share detailed progress and engage with stakeholders in the area. The next session is planned for June.

But Marx and Walsh, from the Milnerton community, said that transparency had been lacking.

“Monthly updates are not consistently shared publicly, with community access to accurate, timely information being obstructed rather than facilitated,” they said.

Badroodien said the city already complied with the directive in producing monthly inland water quality reports offering assessments of water quality in various areas, including the Milnerton Lagoon.

“These reports are part of the city’s efforts to maintain transparency and keep the public informed about water quality and remediation progress,” he said.

Constitutional mandate and shared responsibility

Bredell said that several measures had already been implemented, and numerous conditions had been complied with as a result of the directives.

These included the city’s investment in new infrastructure and upgrading ageing systems as part of the medium- to long-term solution to pollution in the lower Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon area.

However, pollution remained dangerously high, and people had complained of respiratory symptoms, sinusitis and headaches.

Bredell acknowledged that rapid population growth and urbanisation placed immense pressure on existing infrastructure and the delivery of basic services in the Western Cape, particularly in Cape Town.

“The department’s environmental law enforcement and exercising its mandate was demonstrated with the issuing of various administrative enforcement notices issued to the city, thus resulting in various projects and upgrading of existing infrastructure by the city, in order to resolve the pollution challenges within the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon area,” he said.

However, Bredell said that his department was not the only authority with a constitutional responsibility to protect the environment; this was a national and provincial concurrency, with roles also for the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Progress and relief for residents 

The city’s Water and Sanitation Department convened its quarterly community forum in Milnerton at the end of February, where the team provided residents with updates on various interventions addressing sources of pollution affecting the water quality of the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon.

“The city is actively working to restore the environmental health of the lagoon as soon as possible with various short-, medium- and long-term interventions under way,” said Badroodien.

It has launched a large-scale action plan aimed at restoring the quality and health of the Diep River, including Milnerton Lagoon. This plan includes both short-term interventions and long-term strategies to address urban pollution.

Badroodien said the city had investigated several short-term remedial options and was engaging with the Mayor’s Section 80 Advisory Committee on Water Quality in Wetlands, Waterways and the Coastal Environment on the way forward.

“The ongoing multibillion-rand infrastructure upgrades will result in noticeable improvements to [the] environmental health of the lagoon. The city is also planning for the dredging of the lagoon to mitigate the impact of urban pollution in the sediment,” said Badroodien. DM

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