‘Sewage is oozing into our water’
In 2012 the municipality was ordered to fix the crisis in Carolina. It still has not done so
When Eddie Shabangu’s family needs water to drink, he has to trek 5km to a borehole at a school in Carolina’s Silobela township in Mpumalanga, a trip he does a few days each week.
This has become routine for the past 14 years because the town’s water crisis has deepened.
“We rely on boreholes at churches, mosques and schools to get water because we are afraid to drink tap water,” said Shabangu, the chairperson of Carolina Eco Green. “Once you drink the tap water many people suffer from waterborne diseases. That is the issue that is affecting our community.”
The nonprofit organisation has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the “persistent neglect of water safety” by the Chief Albert Luthuli local municipality, but said the municipality “fails to respond effectively”.
“As Carolina Eco Green, we do awareness [raising] where we inform the community of the danger of drinking the water coming from the tap, what they should do before they get water from the tap and that they must boil it first before they use it for drinking and cooking.”
Independent water tests by Carolina Eco Green using kits that water activist group Watercan provided, show high levels of E. coli and coliform bacteria. These bacteria cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea.
“We started using Watercan water testing kits to prove that the water is polluted,” said Shabangu, who added that they started testing tap water in May last year.
“Every month, we check our water status in Carolina to see how polluted it is because our wastewater treatment plant has not functioned since 2012.
“And the sewage is oozing from the wastewater treatment plant into the Boesman Spruit, which is used to supply water to the whole of Carolina.”
In September, the organisation formally notified municipality officials by email, urging swift intervention. But their pleas were met with silence, according to both Watercan and Carolina Eco Green. Following months of “relentless follow-ups”, Carolina Eco Green conducted further comprehensive water testing in April.
“Only then, after confirmation of concerning contamination levels, did the municipality finally acknowledge our efforts,” said Imminent Mabuza, the spokesperson for Carolina Eco Green.
“This delay is deeply troubling and raises serious questions about the municipality’s commitment to public health and environmental well-being. It’s been more than 13 years that we have been dealing with this issue. Now we need action plans to hold the municipality accountable.”
The municipality did not respond to the Mail & Guardian’s inquiries.
The department of water and sanitation’s Blue Drop Report 2023 for Mpumalanga gave the Chief Albert Luthuli municipality an abysmal score of 19.1%, ranking among the worst in South Africa. For Carolina, the Blue Drop score was 21.20%.
“The Carolina water treatment works were inspected to verify the Blue Drop audit findings and received a technical site score of 61%,” stated the report, which was published in December.
“The Carolina water treatment plant is operational, but the plant performance must be improved.”
Water quality is not monitored in accordance with the South African National Standard 241, which specifies the minimum requirements for potable water that is safe for people to drink.
According to the report: “The potable water is not microbiologically compliant and poses a serious acute health risk to the community.
“Process units that scored less than 50% and needed attention included general aspects and physical appearance, the raw water pipeline, the flocculant dosing, sludge handling and the high lift pump station.”
The department’s report explicitly highlights the “dire state of management and drinking water quality” in Carolina’s water supply system. It places the municipality under regulatory surveillance and instructs the municipal manager to submit a detailed corrective action plan within 20 days of the report being published.
This plan should outline activities, responsible personnel, timelines and anticipated improvements.
The Chief Albert Luthuli municipality did not respond to questions about whether they had submitted such a plan, which was due at the end of December 2023.
In 2012, Judge Moses Mavundla granted an urgent application by the Federation for a Sustainable Environment and the Silobela Concerned Community, ordering the Gert Sibande district municipality
to provide Carolina residents with drinkable water within 72 hours, and a minimum of 25 litres of drinkable water per person per day.
The court action arose after the town’s drinking water supply water was contaminated by the seepage of acid mine drainage from mining activities, which led to protests.
At the time, the department of water and sanitation noted that the drinking water produced at the water purification plant was not suitable.
Watercan’s executive manager, Ferrial Adam, said Carolina’s poor water quality could be improved if the municipality works with the residents and prioritises these problems.
“Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental human right. We stand with Carolina Eco Green and the Carolina community in their fight for clean water,” she said.
Watercan and Carolina Eco Green have urged the Chief Albert Luthuli municipality to make its own water quality test results public.
The municipality was also asked to issue a notice that warns residents to boil the tap water before drinking it because of the high levels of bacteria in it.