City faces criminal charges for allegedly discharging sewage at Strandfontein Beach

Councillor Karl Bodin, mayoral advisory committee member for water quality of wetlands, waterways and the coastal environment, has laid charges against the City of Cape for allegedly discharging raw sewage into the ocean at Strandfontein Beach.

He registered the criminal case at Strandfontein police station on Wednesday November 13 for alleged contraventions of Section 69 and 79 of the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008 (as amended), for investigation.

“The City of Cape Town is pumping millions of litres of raw sewage per day onto the beach and into False Bay between Strandfontein and Muizenberg. This highly toxic effluent has been flowing into the ocean for decades according to residents.

“Testing of the sewage has proved that it poses a serious and immediate health risk. City officials have not as yet taken action to immediately prevent this from happening,” the Cape Independence Party councillor said.

Mr Bodin said he visited the site earlier this year after receiving complaints from Strandfontein residents.

Test samples of the effluent were obtained at the pipe outlet and at the point of entry into the ocean. These samples have been tested at Vinlab in Stellenbosch, a South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accredited analytic facility.

According to Dr Jo Barnes, emeritus senior lecturer at the department of global health, health systems and public health at Stellenbosch University’s faculty of medicine and health science, who analysed the test results, E. coli is the organism of choice for the interpretation of environmental pollution by sewage.

“The sample taken at the discharge pipe of the channel some distance away from the edge of the sea measured 310 000 E. coli organisms per 100 ml water.

“The sample taken as the water enters the sea measured 350 000 E. coli organisms per 100 ml water.

“Both these samples indicate gross pollution with sewage and constitute a real and immediate danger to health and safety, as well as a serious risk of environmental damage.

“This situation should be addressed immediately to prevent further risk to life and the environment,” Dr Barnes said in his report of April 11.

Mr Bodin said he notified the city manager, mayor and mayoral committee members for water and sanitation, and health in writing on April 7 this year.

“The City acknowledged my email, however, what is very concerning, is that no plan of action has been discussed with us to explain how this sewage catastrophe is going to be resolved on a very urgent basis.

“You would think that the City, which constantly reminds everyone that it’s a ‘Caring City’, would have taken immediate action last week,” Mr Bodin said.

“With this level of E.coli on the Strandfontein beachfront and in False Bay, one would expect members of the public to have been infected,” Mr Bodin said, urging them to reach out to him.

In a letter to Mr Bodin dated June 11, the then Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbary Creecy, confirmed that the City’s Mitchell’s Plain Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) facility was authorised in terms of its Water Use Licence to store and discharge final effluent in the facility’s maturation ponds.

The minister’s letter, of which the Plainsman has a copy, noted, however, that the licence “does not authorise discharge from the WWTW to coastal waters and the CoCT has not produced a permit authorising this activity.”

When the Plainsman visited the site of the alleged discharge of effluent at Strandfontein Beach on Wednesday November 13, it discovered fluids being pumped into the ocean.

A City of Cape Town road sign at the Mitchell’s Plain WWTW effluent discharge point along Lukannon Drive in Strandfontein, indicated that “the coastal waters was closed to all forms of recreation [within] 150m [of] each side of where the discharge enters the sea.”

The Plainsman reached out to the City of Cape Town for comment, asking them if the City is discharging effluent from the Mitchell’s Plain Waste-Water Treatment Works into the coastal waters at Strandfontein Beach.

Dr Zahid Badroodien, the mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, replied: “The discharge consists of treated effluent from the Mitchells Plain Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW), which is governed by the location and standards stipulated in our water use licences. No raw sewage is discharged from the Mitchell’s Plain Waste Water Treatment Works.

“The final treated effluent is discharged to a designated discharge point, along the Strandfontein coast. The treated outlet discharge location is remote and not considered a recreational node for swimming.”

The Plainsman asked whether the City’s maturation ponds at the facility are being used to store/dispose of effluent? “When wastewater enters the plant, it is transferred to the biological system to be treated and disinfected. The treated effluent then flows through maturation ponds (one duty line and one standby line) for additional disinfection through natural sunlight exposure,” said Dr Badroodien.

He reiterated that the final treated effluent is then discharged to a designated discharge point, along the Strandfontein coast, which is remote and not a node for swimming.

We also asked if the City can confirm whether they (the City) have been issued a licence authorising discharge from the Mitchell’s Plan Waste-Water Treatment Works to coastal waters.

“The licence from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for the disposal of treated effluent to the maturation ponds was issued in 2015. The regulating authority for discharge from the maturation ponds to the nearshore environment was changed from DWS to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), and the City has applied for a Coastal Water Discharge Permit from DFFE,” said Dr Badroodien. “The issuing of the Coastal Water Discharge Permit is still in progress.”

• This story has been updated since our print publication to include comments from the City of Cape Town.

We will publish comments from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment when we receive it.

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