The Mpumalanga high court has fined the Emalahleni municipality R650m, of which R150m was suspended, for years of allowing untreated sewage to flow into rivers and dams.
The fine was imposed after the municipality pleaded guilty to environmental offences in terms of the National Environmental Management Act and National Water Act between March 2016 and March 2025.
Mpumalanga spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Monica Nyuswa said the municipality negligently caused severe environmental pollution by allowing untreated sewage effluent to overflow from municipal sewer manholes into the environment.
The municipality was ordered to ringfence R500m of the fine for the rehabilitation of wastewater infrastructure by April 2031, she said.
Problem areas include the Emalahleni, Ogies, KwaGuqa, and Ga-Nala wastewater treatment works and pump.
Watchdog organisation WaterCAN hopes the court ruling is the start of a nationwide crackdown, and for the responsible officials to be held liable.
“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 only for the municipality as a legal entity.”
WaterCAN is calling for:
- Personal accountability for officials, including the 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 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 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 take up a senior job in another municipality as if nothing happened,” Adam said.
“The principle that ‘polluters must pay’ must apply to individuals in leadership and management positions, not only to institutions.”
WaterCAN said the 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.
“We need to see the same energy in every province.”
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