Raw sewage spills stretch across provinces as wastewater systems fail

Communities in several South African provinces are coping with growing sewage failures as wastewater systems collapse and untreated effluent spills into streets, rivers and dams. Residents and oversight visitors described overflowing sewer networks, dysfunctional treatment plants and visible pollution in Limpopo, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape.

Wastewater plants in distress

National Council of Provinces delegates who visited the City of Matlosana in May found two wastewater treatment plants in serious distress. At the Klerksdorp wastewater treatment plant, the facility had reportedly been out of operation since March 2023, with untreated wastewater flowing into the Skoonspruit River and eventually into the Vaal River. The department of water and sanitation told the delegation the municipality had received non-compliance notices in 2018 and 2021 and that a criminal case was opened against it in February this year.

NCOP delegate Dennis Ryder described the Klerksdorp facility as “a crime scene.” Delegates also reported that workers were manually separating waste at inlet points because machinery was no longer functioning, and that the facility had no perimeter fencing, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to vandalism and theft.

Untreated sewage reaching the Vaal

At the Hartebeesfontein wastewater treatment plant, the delegation was told the facility had been dysfunctional since December 2025 because of severe inlet blockages. The plant, with a treatment capacity of eight megalitres, was reportedly discharging untreated sewage into the Vaal River through the Jagspruit River.

Contamination in Limpopo and community complaints

WaterCan executive director Ferrial Adam warned the problem should not be seen as isolated to single municipalities and pointed to alleged raw sewage entering the Letaba River in Limpopo. Independent laboratory testing at three sites outside a wastewater treatment plant reportedly classified the water as class IV, with E. coli levels of more than 2 420 per 100ml. Adam said such results indicated substantial faecal contamination and raised concerns about exposure to pathogens.

Community leader Elizabeth Shingange said sewage had been flowing into the Letaba River since 2023 and that residents had repeatedly raised the issue with the municipality without a lasting solution. She said municipal employees dealing with water do not drink from the river and added: “Only the communities are surviving on that filthy water. We are tired of this; the government must fix the problem.”

Wider provincial impacts and local reports

The sewage problems extend beyond those sites. In the Northern Cape, spills in Kuruman and Colesberg have prompted calls for intervention. In the Free State, residents of Nyakallong township in Matjhabeng municipality reported years of sewage problems, with raw sewage reportedly flowing through streets and into Voëlpan Dam, locally known as “Stinkpan.”

Attempts to obtain comment from municipal authorities met with limited response: municipal spokesperson Neville Ndlala did not respond to questions about the latest allegations.

Calls for accountability

WaterCan has assisted communities to lay charges against municipalities where sewage overflows have occurred. According to Ferrial Adam, in many cases WaterCan reports managers rather than municipalities so that officials “must be held accountable as the people failing to do their jobs.”

The scale of failing wastewater infrastructure and repeated contamination reports underline an ongoing environmental and public-health challenge for affected communities.