Fix our water by firing the cadres

Even by the standards of the bad news battering we get every day, the realisation that 13% of drinking water nationally is not fit for human consumption is still shocking.

According to an independent report on water quality commissioned by AfriForum, the percentage of unsafe drinking water has been skyrocketing in the past four years – going up by 10 percentage points from the 3% it was in 2020.

In other words, the outflow from waste water treatment works that is classed as unsafe has quadrupled in just four years.

Lambert de Klerk, manager for environmental affairs at AfriForum, said water supply and sewage treatment systems do not function properly because the vast majority of municipalities, which are mainly responsible for water and sanitation services, continuously underperform.

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Sewage outflows contain bacterial contamination, including E. coli – which is found in faeces – and which can cause diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and kidney failure.

The AfriForum Blue and Green drop 2024 report also found many rivers were gravely polluted.

This is a national emergency and the government needs to start treating it as one.

A good start would be getting rid of the incompetent and unqualified ANC-deployed cadres responsible for wreaking the havoc on our water supply.

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