ActionSA rejects the City of Cape Town’s arguments for continued pumping of raw sewage into the ocean

6 April 2023

In February this year, ActionSA appealed against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment approval of the City of Cape Town’s application for a permit to continue pumping raw sewage into the ocean at Green Point and Camps Bay for another five (5) years.

The raw sewage is, in the case of Camps Bay, released via a pipeline into the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area. In the case of the Green Point, the sewage is released into the sea just outside the border of the Marine Protected Area.

The City of Cape Town responded to the appeals, arguing why their pumping of raw sewage should be allowed to continue.

The City of Cape Town’s arguments include that:

1.   The raw sewage passes through two screens to remove large items and can therefore be described as having received “preliminary treatment” before being pumped into the sea.

2.   Pumping sewage out into the ocean is common practice around the world.

3.   In 2004 the Marine Protected Area was declared “with the full knowledge of a pre-existing marine outfall at Camps Bay.”

4.   The Green Point pipeline doesn’t discharge sewage into a Marine Protected Environment. The Camps Bay pipeline discharges sewage into a “Control Zone” in the Marine Protected Area, and not into a “Sanctuary” or a “No Take” Zone.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has given ActionSA an opportunity to respond to the City of Cape Town’s arguments.

ActionSA rejects the reasons given by the City of Cape Town as completely without foundation. Our responses have included pointing out the following:

Firstly, that the “screen” system used by the City of Cape Town is not effective or sufficient. This is evidenced by the numerous testimonials of kayakers and surfers who have reported seeing solid faeces and other sanitary items floating in the sea. Furthermore, pathogens and chemicals contained in the sewage can easily pass through a 3mm screen.

Secondly, other parts of the world have realised the harm they have been causing and are treating their sewage before pumping it into the ocean. Florida, California, Australia and New Zealand, for example, now employ secondary treatment, which, in Australia, allows the recovery of fresh water for other uses.

The marine outfalls in other parts of the world also differ from the situation in Cape Town as they are not discharging their sewage into a Marine Protected Area with a unique collection of marine biota and endangered species such as the African Penguin, that are being exposed to toxic chemicals originating from sewage.

Thirdly: The circumstances that were present in 2004 when the Table Mountain National Park was declared a Marine Protected Area, have changed. Since the declaration 20 years ago, the population of the City of Cape Town has more than doubled, thereby more than doubling the amount of effluent being pumped into the sea. The use of modern chemicals and hormones, which are being pumped into the ocean with the effluent, has also increased exponentially since then. At the time the marine outfalls were built, the measurement techniques to determine the impact did not exist. They now do. A previous lack of knowledge cannot be used as an excuse for not acting.

Lastly, ActionSA has pointed out that, although the exit point of the Green Point outfall is not in the Marine Protected Area, it is right on the border thereof. You cannot tell pathogens and chemicals where to go, and there are no boundaries that prevent the pathogens and chemicals from being transported into the Marine Protected Area by the currents.

The City of Cape Town can also not argue away the fact that the Camps Bay sewage pipeline discharges directly into a Marine Protected Area. Splitting hairs about whether the raw sewage is being pumped into a “Control,” a “Sanctuary” or a “No Take” Zone cannot change this fact.

ActionSA now awaits the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s decision on the appeals.

ActionSA has recently launched High Court proceedings in KwaZulu-Natal to prevent further economic devastation to tourism caused by rampant sewage pollution in that province. ActionSA will similarly take the necessary steps in the Western Cape to protect residents’ health, the environment and the tourism economy.

Issued by Michelle Wasserman, ActionSA Western Cape Provincial Chairperson, 6 April 2023