South Africa: Massive Pollution in Durban Sea As Waste Treatment Facility Fails

All bathing banned in South Africa's surf city

The severe sewage discharge followed massive amounts of rubbish piling up on Durban's streets after municipal workers went on an unprotected strike, protesting against salary hikes awarded to Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) veterans. It emerged last month on the eve of this week's election that some MK vets employed by the city had received pay increases from R9 000 to R20 000. Many were employed in eThekwini's already dysfunctional Durban Solid Waste (DSW) department. The strike, including blockades and dumping of refuse in the city centre, took place amid Africa's biggest international tourism conference, the Tourism Indaba, taking place in Durban.Bathing, surfing and fishing have been banned in Durban due to raw sewage flowing into the water. Hundreds of thousands of litres of raw sewage are flowing into the port every hour.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.