Municipal records have shown a decline in the average daily flow of effluent into the Isipingo Wastewater Treatment Works, south of Durban, due to leaks in the pipeline.
Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
BUDGET constraints have led to a dramatic increase in sewer faults in eThekwini Municipality, raising environmental concerns and prompting discussions on necessary infrastructure improvements
Reported sewer faults have tripled to 2,368 in January 2026, compared to 850 in December 2025, in the eThekwini Municipality.
Unclosed sewer faults, which include blockages, rodding, and jetting, pose a risk to the environment.
The municipality stated that the budget had been limited in January 2026, but money had since been made available during the recent budget adjustment
Details on the state of the Sanitation Services Directorate in the municipality were discussed at an Executive Committee (Exco) meeting on Tuesday.
The monthly water and sanitation statistics revealed that effluent flowing into Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) fluctuated between 84% and 60% in six months, with January recorded at 72%.
The municipality has indicated that pump stations are suffering from theft and vandalism. However, officials anticipate that figures will show improvement once the necessary network repairs are finished.
Also, the municipality attended to 93% of faults within 24 hours of them being reported. The report stated that three WWTW had 0% Green Drop compliance.
The Green Drop programme seeks to induce changes in the behaviour of individual institutions to facilitate continuous improvement and adoption of best practice management for wastewater collection and treatment systems.
The municipality stated that they were working towards addressing the non-compliance issues at these WWTW.
The three WWTW are:
The report revealed that the Hillcrest WWTW is struggling with high volumes of fats, oils, and grease (FOGs) incoming from the various restaurants in the Hillcrest area. The plant is also undergoing upgrades.
Concerning flows not reaching WWTW, the average daily flow to Isipingo in December 2021 was 12,471 kiloliters per day (kl/d), compared to 5,261 kl/d recorded in December 2025.
The dramatic decline in flow to WWTW and comparison between December 2021 and December 2025 are as follows:
Sibusiso Vilane, a senior member of the eThekwini Sanitation Directorate, said the municipality has a five-to-10-year investment programme to replace ageing pipelines, as some of the pipes were between 40 and 50 years old.
He said the National Treasury is expected to come on board to assist with municipal trading service reforms. Additionally, he said, the recent municipal budget reprioritisation assisted in dealing with some of the projects.
The speaker specifically addressed the problem of sewer issues in eThekwini's informal settlements, emphasising the need for inter-departmental cooperation to resolve them.
Furthermore, the city is aware of the strain on infrastructure caused by additions to RDP houses.
Vilane reported that the city has been conducting E. coli tests on rivers and is also in the process of acquiring Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to help detect water leaks.
A report detailing the status of the rivers and the AI initiative is expected to be presented shortly.
Nkosenhle Madlala, ANC councillor and Exco member, said budgets must be allocated to fix the problem.
“We did not put money aside to do regular maintenance. However, areas where we have allocated money have seen improvements. There is still a lot more that needs to be done. We also need to prevent vandalism by reaching out to the communities to protect infrastructure.”
Andre Beetge, DA councillor and Exco member, was concerned that wastewater was not reaching the treatment works.
“The population and the number of houses have increased so this remains a serious problem. Where is all the wastewater going?” he said.
Deputy Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Zandile Myeni, said there were many successes from the report, including the fact that the beaches remain open.
“We will continue to advance on our smart city project. We also need to deal with the issue of vandalism because it would cost the city millions to pay security companies,” she said.