TAINTED TAPS: Mapped: Bronkhorstspruit an example of SA’s collapsing water system

Drinking water in Bronkhorstspruit, a town in eastern Tshwane, South Africa, was found to be unsafe after a 21-day period without basic chlorination chemicals. This led to 833 people, mostly children under four, suffering from gastrointestinal illness. Mayor Masipa Moya took responsibility and promised to address the issue, but shortly after, raw sewage leaked into the Apies River from a broken municipal sewer pipe, contaminating groundwater that supplied local springs and the Findlay Water Treatment Works.

Politicians downplayed the incident as an isolated occurrence caused by a mechanical breakdown or rogue contractors. However, experts argue that South Africa's water systems are in such poor condition that these contamination incidents are predictable outcomes of nationwide municipal infrastructure failure. A recent Daily Maverick investigation revealed that 47% of wastewater systems in the country are in critical condition, with Gauteng and the Free State experiencing the most severe deterioration.

Dr Ferrial Adam, executive director of WaterCAN, explained that when wastewater treatment plants fail, they can contaminate rivers and streams with sewage, leading to high levels of organic matter. Treatment plants then have to use excessive disinfectants, creating toxic byproducts that can be carcinogenic. This cycle has already been witnessed in other crisis-hit metros like Nelson Mandela Bay.

WaterCAN's citizen-science monitoring efforts, using water quality data from across the country, have found drinking water to be unsafe in many places. Dr Adam urged public health facilities to start gathering and reporting data on water contamination, emphasizing that such under-reporting obscures the true extent of waterborne illnesses in South African communities.