WaterNews: October 20, 2022

A stream of raw sewage flows from a leak just outside the Standerton wastewater treatment works perimeter fence, directly into the Vaal River visible in the background. The Vaal is the source of drinking water for South Africa’s most populous province, Gauteng, which is the country’s economic hub. Photo by Steve Kretzmann

Communities Turned into Sewage Swamps

This investigation was produced in collaboration with the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism and OpenUp, with the support of the Open Society Foundation.

A version of this article was first published by GroundUp.

Johan Lotter and his parents moved into numbers 2 and 2A Johann Street in Standerton 15 years ago, planning to spend the rest of their lives there.
Located in a cul-de-sac on the banks of the Vaal River, it seemed ideal for Johan, who had taken an early retirement after the family plumbing business down-sized. He had planned to look after his aging parents and spend more time enjoying two of his favorite hobbies, gardening and baking. But for the past three years gardening has been out of the question, and baking is much less appetizing, as both properties have been flooded with sewage.
Johan said the sewer line started to get blocked on a regular basis from 2009. It gradually became more frequent until the overflow became permanent in late 2018, with sewage engulfing their yards.

Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue

What’s Up With Water — October 18, 2022
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A critically failing sewage works in Springbok in the Northern Cape is one of 334 in the country which obtained a Green Drop score of 30% or less. The cause of the failure was not investigated but is typical of broader municipal service failures. Photo © Steve Kretzmann / CCIJ

‘A Tsunami of Human Waste’: Half of South Africa’s Sewage Treatment Works Are Failing, Says Report

When he was 13 years old, Rudy Hanse joined the guppy development program offered by the Milnerton Canoe Club in Cape Town. There he learned how to paddle a canoe and swim.
Later, he took up a lifeguarding course, while continuing to paddle at the club and training with other members for the grueling Berg River Canoe Marathon. As a result, Hanse was able to extract himself from the poverty and joblessness that permeates Dunoon and begin earning a decent income in guest services in the United Arab Emirates. “If it wasn’t for [that training course], I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said.
This opportunity was available because the Milnerton Lagoon was clean enough to swim in. That is no longer the case. For years, the water has been too polluted by sewage to risk children being exposed to it, and the canoe club had to close down its guppy development program about eight years ago.