WATER WOES: Nelson Mandela Bay needs nearly R1bn to tackle water losses and ageing pipes

With up to 1,000 water-related complaints received weekly, the Nelson Mandela Bay metro requires R426-million to repair leaks and a further R495-million to embark on a pipe replacement programme in a bid to curb water losses that run up to 60%. 

The City is currently battling a more than 5,000 water leak complaints backlog, as 4,700km of its water pipeline needs replacement. Water outages, which often leave residents without water for weeks, have also become increasingly common.

The City’s ailing sanitation infrastructure is equally strained, with sewage spills due to malfunctioning pump stations and wastewater treatment plants that result in raw sewage flowing into beaches, estuaries and riverine areas.

The water and sanitation crisis in the city was placed under the microscope by the South African Human Rights Commission in July, after an investigation report described the result as a material public-health risk that has an impact on human rights.

Now, the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition has put together a report named the CSC Metro Rough Guide on the municipality’s wastewater services. The report was released on 25 August.

The report says the metro’s wastewater system is failing, with continual spills polluting the environment and threatening public health and livelihoods, natural ecosystems, the local economy and the environmental inheritance of future generations.

“It is a common sight in townships to see stepping-stones across algae-infested sewage waters streaming down roads, to have homes and factories flooded, stormwater drains dumping sewage into rivers and across beaches of the bay, and the air continually smelling of sewage,” the report reads.

The report says the Driftsands Wastewater Treatment Works, previously considered the metro’s “gold standard” plant, has been largely non-operational for the past three to four years after thieves stole its underground electricity supply cable.

More recently, internal cables serving plant equipment were also stolen, despite 24-hour security.

As a result, the report says, raw sewage flows through a 3km sand canal and is discharged into the sea from the rocks between the Willows and Willow Grove resorts.

The Cape Recife plant, which previously discharged raw sewage into the sea, has improved following recent upgrades, the report says. However, its settlement ponds are under threat from an advancing sand corridor. A water-recycling project designed to supply one megalitre a day to Pine Lodge, Nelson Mandela University and Humewood Golf Course is also inactive because of failures at the plant and in the conveyance system.

The city’s largest pump station, the Creek, with eight pumps, receives wastewater from Summerstrand, Humewood, Central, Korsten, and Westering. The facility has been subject to regular cable theft. The recently installed perimeter fence is regularly damaged and breached by traffic failing to make the turn on the highway, affecting security.

The Human Rights Commission report notes that results from the metro’s beaches sampled on 2 and 16 March 2026 were consistent with sewage-related pollution risks and raised concerns about possible failures across the wastewater system, including treatment, conveyance, containment, maintenance and process control. 

Sanitation system ‘has collapsed’

Coalition spokesperson Zukile Madikane said the metro’s sanitation system had collapsed.

“This is badly affecting communities. Everywhere you go, especially in the townships, there’s a sewage spillage, and in some instances the homes are flooded by raw sewage too. The wastewater treatment plants are not maintained, raw sewage is being pumped into Chatty River, which is bad for the environment and is killing the fish, and the municipality simply does not care.

“In Motherwell, sewage is being pumped to the Swaartkops River, which just shows that the system has collapsed. The deputy minister was here – I’m sure he was taken to the refurbishment facilities, but there’s no focus on the experience of the ordinary person.”

In August, municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said oversight visits were being planned, and the media would be informed and given feedback once they were completed.

Meanwhile, Department of Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Jack Bloom visited the Nooitgedagt and Groendal water treatment plants on Monday as part of an oversight visit to the metro.

Bloom told municipal officials it was concerning that huge volumes of treated water were being lost through leaks. He also mentioned concern over sewage seeping into rivers.

“To have it [water] expensively treated, and produced, then lost through leaks, or stolen, incorrect billing and illegal connection cannot continue. The municipality can’t ask people to save water while it runs down the streets. The water consumption rate here is exceptionally above the world average,” he said.

“To get to grips with the water situation, we have to do everything right. We need to get a new source of water.”

Bloom suggested that it should be mandatory for all coastal municipalities to consider desalination at scale as an alternative source of water.

“This has to be one of your big priorities. Lack of water is a job destroyer. Industries are affected, including agriculture. We’ve already seen that the electrical crisis becomes a water crisis, so you have to have a stable source of supply.”

The City’s water woes are also affected by rampant vandalism of municipal infrastructure. Criminals steal electrical cables, which affects the pumping of water.

Bloom said it was a pity that they could not visit the wastewater treatment plants to assess their progress.

The City’s water boss Barry Martin said his two-year-old proposal for the City to look into desalination had been shot down. He said that to stop the 60% water loss, R426-million was needed to repair leaks and R495-million to embark on a pipe replacement programme.

Metro political head for infrastructure and engineering Buyelwa Mafaya said water losses and the leaks need to be urgently addressed. 

“We have appointed contractors to work on the water leaks across the six clusters. On the R75 and Mission Road, we are also addressing water issues, where we will be drawing water from the Orange River to Nooitgedagt,” said Mafaya.

“However, mainly we have to replace the old pipeline, which contributes to the water leaks. The budget is a huge problem to realise this, but we know exactly how much we will require from the department for this work.”

Mafaya said she was happy that Bloom mentioned desalination because the National Treasury had not supported the municipality when it submitted the proposal. DM