Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite in English here and Afrikaans here by Leanne De Jager MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng is calling on the Department of Water and Sanitation to open a criminal case against the City of Tshwane for failing to maintain its wastewater treatment plants. The 2025 Green Drop Report released last week indicates that the City of Tshwane’s wastewater treatment performance has dropped from 82% in 2013 to a devasting 33.8%.
The DA Gauteng has learnt that the Department of Water and Sanitation has confirmed that criminal proceedings are at an advanced stage against the City of Johannesburg, the City of Ekurhuleni, and Mogale City for their roles in polluting the Klip River catchment. The charges are based on the contravention of water use licence conditions, failure to comply with formal directives issued under the National Water Act, failure to meet directive deadlines within stipulated timeframes, and continued pollution of strategic water resources. These same charges should apply to the Tshwane.
The Hennops River, which flows through Tshwane, is in the same condition as the Klip River. There is visible foaming, and the ecosystem is being destroyed due to years of sewage discharge from failing treatment works. The Jukskei River is in the same condition as the Hennops River.
If Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Mogale City face criminal prosecution for what they have done to the Klip River system, there is no principled basis for exempting Tshwane from the same accountability for what it has done to the Hennops River and the broader catchment that ultimately feeds into the Vaal River system.
Tshwane has had a 60-day remediation deadline. The Green Drop data suggest that the conditions for non-compliance are already known. Should Tshwane not have met that remedial deadline, then criminal charges must be laid.
The DA Gauteng will be directly engaging with the Department of Water and Sanitation to determine the following:
1. Whether formal directives have been issued against Tshwane’s non-compliant treatment works under the National Water Act, and if not, issue them immediately.
2. Provide a clear timeline for escalation to criminal proceedings should Tshwane fail to meet the remediation conditions set out in the 60-day deadline.
3. If the same enforcement standard applied to the Klip River catchment municipalities will be applied uniformly across all Gauteng municipalities whose wastewater systems are polluting our river systems.
The DA Gauteng will submit questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to the MEC for Environment, Ewan Botha, to seek clarity on the timeline for the remedial action Tshwane needs to take.
The residents of Hammanskraal have already paid the ultimate price, with cholera linked to contaminated water in that community. The DA Gauteng will not accept a two-tier enforcement system where some municipalities face prosecution while others, equally culpable, are allowed to continue unchecked.
A DA-led provincial government would immediately implement the recommendations of the Green Drop report. In addition, we would ensure that the issues with the Rooiwaal wastewater treatment plant are fixed immediately.