Sewage Failures and Dirty Water Spark Public Outcry in Theewaterskloof Municipality

Widespread sewage treatment failures and poor water quality are pushing several towns within the Theewaterskloof Municipality to the brink of a public health crisis. Residents across the region, particularly in Riviersonderend, are voicing deep frustration over murky, smelly, and undrinkable tap water—despite an 8% increase in water tariffs.

Local businesses in food and hospitality have been hit especially hard, forced to spend heavily on water filtration systems or secure alternative water sources just to remain operational.

According to DA councillor Piet Stander, Riviersonderend once boasted some of the cleanest water in the Overberg, sourced from the perennial Olifants River. However, deteriorating infrastructure and lack of maintenance led to the failure of gravity-fed pipelines. For the past four years, the town has relied on water from the Sonderend River, which is now polluted with upstream effluent, pesticides, and agricultural runoff.

“The cost of chemicals now needed to treat this polluted water exceeds what it would’ve cost to repair the original pipelines,” said Stander.

Sewage Crisis Worsens Across the Municipality

The water problem is not isolated to Riviersonderend. The Department of Water and Sanitation’s Integrated Regulatory Information System (IRIS) shows that sewage treatment works in all eight towns within the municipality have been failing for years. These towns include Caledon, Grabouw, Villiersdorp, Greyton, Genadendal, Botrivier, Tesselaarsdal, and Riviersonderend.

Only Tesselaarsdal and Botrivier currently meet minimum national drinking water standards, while the rest have microbiological contamination, including excessive levels of faecal bacteria. IRIS data further confirms that untreated or partially treated sewage is being discharged directly into local streams and rivers, compounding water safety issues and environmental degradation.

Caledon’s sewage treatment works, recently upgraded at a cost of R56 million, exemplifies the dysfunction. Despite new infrastructure, 32 serious effluent failures have been recorded this year alone. E. coli levels have exceeded safe thresholds by more than double, with additional signs of high ammonia and other pollutants.

A site visit revealed that of four aerators installed, only two are functioning. Of the two clarifiers designed to separate solid waste from wastewater, just one is operational. The facility is emblematic of a pattern of poor implementation, inadequate oversight, and failing service delivery.

In addition to sewage infrastructure breakdowns, waste management in the municipality is also deeply flawed. The landfill in Caledon, supposed to be closed and rehabilitated years ago, remains operational and uncovered. Winds carry plastic waste into the surrounding environment, adding to pollution levels.

Although a transfer station was built to facilitate proper disposal at the Karwyderskraal regional landfill near Hermanus, it sits unused. Its access roads are already crumbling from neglect, making it virtually inoperable.

In Villiersdorp, the situation is worse. The newly built transfer station has been stripped for building materials used in informal settlements. As a result, residents continue dumping refuse at an officially closed landfill, or worse, into nearby bushes when the road is inaccessible.

The failing sewage and water infrastructure mirrors the administrative chaos within Theewaterskloof Municipality. Since the 2021 local government elections, the municipality has cycled through four municipal managers. The latest, Walter Hendricks, was officially appointed on May 30, 2025, and faces a monumental task of restoring financial and operational stability.

Hendricks inherits a municipality with over R300 million in irregular and unauthorised expenditure in 2023/24. In contrast, his predecessor Danie Lubbe, now at Langeberg Municipality, left behind a system that recently received a clean audit.

“There’s no money,” Hendricks admitted frankly. “The first thing we need to do is remain within the boundaries of the law.”

Hendricks has pledged to refocus the municipality’s efforts on its core mandates: water, electricity, roads, stormwater, refuse, and wastewater (sewage). He confirmed that master plans are already being coordinated with provincial and national treasury officials to stabilize the municipality financially and structurally.

“We have to eat the elephant bit by bit,” Hendricks said. “Luckily, I have a mayor who has bought into that.”

Once the financial foundation is restored, Hendricks hopes to turn attention to long-overdue community services, such as upgrading sports fields, reopening swimming pools, and revamping local libraries.

The combination of sewage system failures, polluted water supplies, environmental mismanagement, and unstable governance paints a dire picture of municipal collapse in Theewaterskloof. While residents, business owners, and civil servants are still hoping for a turnaround, the urgency to fix sewage treatment infrastructure and water safety systems can no longer be ignored.

 Sewage, Theewaterskloof sewage crisis, Western Cape water quality, Riviersonderend dirty water, municipal collapse South Africa, Caledon sewage plant, IRIS water report, South Africa infrastructure failures, water and sanitation South Africa

 Source- EWN