WaterCAN has welcomed the landmark Mpumalanga High Court ruling that fined the Emalahleni Local Municipality R650 million for years of allowing untreated sewage to flow into rivers and dams – but says this must be the start of a nationwide crackdown on municipal polluters and the individuals who enabled them.
The fine, imposed after the municipality pleaded guilty to multiple environmental offences in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the National Water Act between March 2016 and March 2025, includes a requirement that a portion of the fine be ring-fenced for the rehabilitation and urgent repair of wastewater infrastructure, to the value of R500-million.
WaterCAN said the judgment sends a strong signal that municipalities can no longer poison South Africa’s water resources with impunity but warned that “only fining the institution is not enough”.
“For far too long, communities have paid the price while officials who presided over collapsing wastewater systems move quietly into new positions,” said WaterCAN Executive Director, Dr Ferrial Adam. “There must be direct, personal consequences for those who signed off on, ignored or concealed unlawful discharges – not just for the municipality as a legal entity.”
WaterCAN is calling for:
- Personal accountability for officials – including the current accounting officer, former accounting officers who were in charge when the pollution occurred, and line managers and technical officials who knowingly allowed or failed to act on unlawful discharges. Where officials have moved to other municipalities, water boards or private companies, they must still be traced and held to account.
- A national audit and enforcement drive – using Green Drop assessments and targeted investigations by the Green Scorpions and the Department of Water and Sanitation to identify other municipalities that have ignored directives and allowed sewage to flow into rivers and dams.
- Replication of this prosecution model across the country – with more municipalities facing criminal charges, fines and binding rehabilitation orders where negligence and non-compliance are proven.
- Full transparency and community oversight – all plea and sentence agreements, rehabilitation plans and the spending of ring-fenced fines must be made public and reported to affected communities on a regular basis.
“You should not be able to preside over the slow poisoning of a river in one town and then take up a senior job in another municipality as if nothing happened,” Adam added. “The principle that ‘polluters must pay’ must apply to individuals in leadership and management positions, not only to institutions.”
WaterCAN said South Africa’s constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to health and wellbeing, together with the National Water Act, provides a clear legal framework – but enforcement has been uneven and, in many cases, absent.
“This case shows what is possible when communities, regulators and prosecutors act together,” said Adam. “Now we need to see the same energy in every province – with municipalities and officials in the dock, not just the institutions they once led.”
For media enquiries contact WaterCAN's communication manager on Jonathan Erasmus on 073 227 6075.
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Mpumalanga activists marched on the provincial legislature in Nelspruit, to raise a range of environmental concerns, including water access, pollution and the impact of mining on water resources. The struggle for Water Justice is real. See the video.
