The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for immediate intervention to stop the ongoing discharge of untreated sewage into the Sand and Blood rivers by the Polokwane municipality.
This crisis, caused by failing municipal wastewater treatment infrastructure, poses a severe threat to public health, the environment, and local livelihoods.
Recent measurements downstream of the Polokwane, Seshego, and Mankweng Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) have recorded E. coli levels at an alarming 385,000 CFU/100ml — nearly 1,000 times the acceptable limit of 400 CFU/100ml. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has received alarming laboratory results confirming dangerously high levels of E. coli contamination in the Blood and Sand Rivers.
On 2 July 2025, the DA submitted water samples from both rivers to independent, accredited laboratories for analysis following ongoing concerns from local communities and environmental stakeholders. The results have now confirmed what residents have long feared — that the water in these rivers poses a serious health risk to humans, animals, and the broader ecosystem.
The Polokwane WWTW, designed to process 26 megalitres of effluent per day, is currently overloaded with an inflow of 65 megalitres daily, surpassing July 2023’s readings by 20 megalitres. Investigations have further revealed that more than 70 mega litres of non-compliant sewage effluent are being discharged into these rivers daily.
The situation is exacerbated by the imminent commissioning of the Sand River North Project, expected to introduce an additional 18 megalitres of wastewater into a system that is already critically overburdened and non-compliant.
The environmental consequences are dire. The Sand River’s biodiversity has been decimated, with reports of mass fish die-offs and contaminated borehole water.
What makes matter worse is during an oversight visit conducted on 1 July 2025, Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors in Polokwane discovered that the construction site of the Regional Waste Water Treatment Works (RWWTW), located approximately 10km north of the city along the Sand River, was completely abandoned
The site, intended to address critical wastewater challenges in the region, showed no signs of activity. Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that contractors had not been paid since April 2025 and consequently vacated the project.
The prolonged delay in completing this essential infrastructure poses a severe environmental and public health risk. Wastewater from the city continues to place pressure on an already overwhelmed system, threatening to further contaminate water sources such as the Sand River- Urgent intervention is required to resolve payment issues to and ensure the immediate resumption of construction.
The DA has escalated the matter to the South African Human Rights Commission in July 2022 and lodged criminal charges in March 2023 against the Municipal Manager, Ms. Thuso Nemugumani, for failing in her statutory duty to prevent the continued pollution.
On 22 June 2025, the DA Provincial Leader, Lindy Wilson MP, met with the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Isaac Seitholo in Polokwane to raise alarm over the dire state of water and sewerage services in the municipality. This intervention follows months of persistent neglect by the Polokwane Municipality, and the DA has called on national government to step in to prevent a full-scale environmental and humanitarian disaster.
The DA will continue to fight for the people of Polokwane and hold the municipality accountable.