Rivers polluted by sewers are nothing new to Durbanites. This problem has existed for years. In 2020, a local group of Greenpeace Africa in Durban submitted a petition to the water and sanitation authorities that gathered more than 10,000 signatures. Our riverside residential community was fed up with the unpleasant stench of raw sewage in the air. It was no longer safe to walk along the river or enjoy the surroundings and wildlife of the river. Informal communities that settled along riverbanks to earn a living or provide an income for their families were unable even to use the river for their daily water consumption.
Industrial discharges from factories and raw sewage seeping into the rivers had become a daily occurrence. A petition with over 10,000 signatures from the affected community was ignored. Instead, the situation was allowed to continue to deteriorate. Because the ordinance was not enforced, riverside industries were still allowed to dump their waste into the river. They were free to do whatever they wanted without fear of consequences or accountability.
Our rivers have been slowly dying for almost a decade, if not more, and nothing has been done about it. Every time a problem arises, everything is swept under the rug in the hope that promises will be made and the problem will be solved.
After the Umbilo River oil spill in October 2020, the then M.E.C. Social Development, Tourism, Environment, M.E.C. She reiterated the state government's commitment to addressing high levels of E. coli. She explained that she and the eThekwini mayor were personally involved and concerned about high levels of E. coli. She promised her department and the mayor would take the situation seriously and find a solution. Another promise and commitment not kept.
eThekwini continues to attempt to attribute the dire circumstances in which eThekwini fell into the devastating April floods to the fact that most of these problems predate the floods.
Our rivers have been slowly dying for almost a decade, if not more, and nothing has been done about it. Every time a problem arises, everything is swept under the rug in the hope that promises will be made and the problem will be solved. Problems piled up and piled up under the carpet. The only thing that has changed is that the flood came in April. This managed to wash the carpet and exposed your lies, your failures, your decades of neglect and failure to maintain the most important infrastructure. Three major sewage treatment plants serving the eThekwini region have collapsed due to flooding and decades of collapse.
A few weeks after large numbers of fish were killed in the Isipingo River and estuary due to high levels of ecoli, another large number of fish was killed in the Umgeni River. I can't think of a river or water source that hasn't been affected by high levels of E. coli.In recent years, our fish stocks have started to decline, but it's not because of overfishing; This is due to unacceptably high E. coli levels from the tsunami of raw sewage pumped into the water.
I am angry that informal communities living along rivers are not informed about the dangers of contamination of their food sources. Due to poverty, people risk eating fish, drinking water, and watering their gardens to survive, despite the unpleasant stench of raw sewage in the air. There is also the lives of residents in the eThekwini area have been upended not only by years of unsafe drinking contaminated water but also by the fact that those in charge, from local to state governments, do not care about their communities, their voters and their health. They do not care about the risks exposed due to years of poor leadership, management and dereliction of duty.
A budget is allocated to each Municipality each financial year and guess which budget takes priority, of course, it's all the frills and nice to haves, like 2 statues at the cost of R20 million that are prioritized and critical infrastructure like wastewater is allocated a smaller budget. I guess 2 pretty statues need to be drowning in sewerage before eThekwini realizes that their priorities were wrong.
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On average 30 Megalitres of raw sewage is discharged into the Umbilo river, a further 30 Mega litres of raw sewage is discharged into the Umgeni River and the Ohlanga River as a whopping 30 - 35 Mega litres of raw sewage discharged into the river each day!!!!
The festive season is almost upon us, it's the time of the year when Durban, a popular holiday destination, finally comes alive. Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers make their way down to the glorious golden mile and Durban beachfront. Holiday accommodations and venues are all fully booked, malls, shopping venues, and restaurants are all buzzing, and vendors selling their wares. Some holidaymakers save all year for a few days of fun in the sun. Durban is generally a magical place to be over the festive season... .. except this year.
Billions in much-needed revenue will be lost as holidaymakers cancel and find alternative cities. eThekwini, what have you done to us??..
#CutTheCrap
