Sewage crisis in Cape Town raises serious health concerns

Cape Town pumps an estimated 27 million litres of raw, untreated sewage into its coastline every day through marine outfalls in Camps Bay, Green Point and Hout Bay.

These are the allegations made by ActionSA, that Cape Town is discharging millions of litres of raw sewage into the ocean each day.

It has intensified scrutiny of the City’s broader water and sanitation woes including long-running health concerns around the polluted Milnerton Lagoon.

Speaking near the Green Point marine outfall on Monday, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont warned that Cape Town was “on the brink of becoming the next eThekwini”, accusing the City of denial as sewage infrastructure buckles under population growth.

“Cape Town pumps an estimated 27 million litres of raw, untreated sewage into its coastline every day through marine outfalls in Camps Bay, Green Point and Hout Bay,” Beaumont said.

He claimed beaches were increasingly closed due to contamination, with reports of beachgoers falling ill.

ActionSA has lodged appeals with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) against licences issued in 2023, allowing the City to continue operating marine outfalls. Beaumont said a PAIA application revealed the City exceeded daily discharge limits at the Hout Bay outfall on 107 days in a 180-day review period, at times recording double the legal limit.

The party argues that sewage discharges into marine protected areas amount to daily violations of constitutional rights, including the right to an environment not harmful to health or well-being.

These allegations echo mounting concerns in Milnerton, where residents say years of pollution in the Diep River and Milnerton Lagoon have exposed communities to ongoing health risks.

While ReThinkTheStink NPC director Caroline Marx agrees with Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s assurances that progress at the lagoon is “undeniably positive”,concerns remain saying the City’s focus on pipes and engineering projects overlooks its legal public-health duties.

“We welcome the Mayor’s engagement and his commitment to long-term remediation,” Marx said in a statement.

Her response followed a letter from Hill-Lewis dated November 25, in which he said the City had “thrown the proverbial ‘kitchen sink’ at the problem of the Lagoon”, investing billions of rand in sewer upgrades, pump stations and preparations for partial dredging.

“We will remediate the Lagoon, whatever it takes,” Hill-Lewis wrote. “We will be open, transparent and honest with the community about all the efforts we are making.”

Marx said this does not absolve the City of its obligations under Section 32 of the National Health Act and Section 24 of the Constitution.

A key dispute relates to hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) monitoring around the lagoon.

The City maintains that monitors placed at 3.5 metres above ground meet South African National Accreditation System requirements and provide reliable, legally defensible data. RethinkTheStink maintain that as hydrogen sulphide is a heavy gas and sinks, monitoring should be done at breathing height (0.6-1.2m above ground level) where levels are likely higher.

City officials have argued that lowering sensors would “compromise the credibility of the data” and that hydrogen sulphide disperses rapidly in open environments.

Marx disputes this, saying international environmental health guidance recommends monitoring at human breathing height, between 0.6 and 1.2 metres.

In his letter, Hill-Lewis cited a City Health review of scientific literature which found “limited evidence of health impacts of low levels of hydrogen sulphide exposure”, while acknowledging that odour-related distress and impacts on wellbeing are “real and meaningful”. 

The City was approached for comment on the sewage discharge allegations, Milnerton health concerns and hydrogen sulphide monitoring, and regarding the Milnerton Lagoon and the allegations made by ActionSA but have yet to receive a response.

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