Durban residents are hoping for answers this week as the long-running sewage crisis in the city reaches the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 July. The case will focus on whether the eThekwini Municipality has done enough to fix the ongoing problem of sewage leaking into rivers and onto beaches—something that continues to affect the health, safety, and livelihoods of local communities.
The case combines two legal actions brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA, which were filed more than two years ago. Now, the court will hear arguments about how badly the situation has been handled, and whether an independent expert should be brought in to take over the city’s waste water systems and clean-up efforts.
Many people in Durban have been directly affected. Beaches have been closed multiple times due to unsafe levels of E. coli, a harmful bacteria found in human waste. This has hurt local tourism, businesses, and jobs. Families who live near polluted rivers and streams have had to deal with bad smells, unsafe water, and the risk of illness.
While the city blames much of the damage on the floods of April and May 2022, the DA says the real problem is years of poor maintenance and failure to upgrade sewer systems as the city’s population grew. They believe the city is not being honest about the cause of the crisis and is avoiding responsibility.
Lawyers for the DA, including Max du Plessis SC, Toni Palmer and Ruchir Naidoo, argue that the city is making excuses. They point out that eThekwini once had a world-class sanitation system, even winning United Nations awards in 2007 and 2011. But things started going wrong before the floods. In 2021, for example, the city blamed water plants for beach closures when the real reason was untreated sewage being pumped into the Umgeni River.
This week’s court case is seen as a major moment for the people of Durban, many of whom have been calling for urgent action. If the court finds the city has failed its duty, it could order new steps to make sure the sewage problem is properly managed and communities are protected.
