How much longer are South Africans safe to drink safely from the tap?

The water crisis deepens: 13% of SA’s water now unsafe to drink according to online Citizen of 6 December 2024. The quality of South Africa’s drinking water is dropping drastically, with AfriForum’s independent blue and green drop 2024 report finding the country’s water systems, particularly wastewater treatment works, has deteriorated.  The report, which was launched earlier that week, revealed that 13% of water nationally is not safe for human consumption. “The percentage of tests that pointed to drinking water that is unsafe for human consumption over these five years were 3% in 2020 (five out of 178 tests), 2% in 2021 (four out of 188 tests), 4% in 2022 (six out of 170 tests), 4% (eight out of 193 tests) in 2023 and currently 13% (28 out of 210 tests),” said Lambert de Klerk, manager for environmental affairs at AfriForum. 20 of 150 tests met minimum standards.

Online Polity reported that Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo – who has been outspoken about water pollution – says the pollution crisis is largely driven by failures in some municipal wastewater treatment plants, which are discharging untreated or partially treated sewage into South Africa’s freshwater systems, contaminating rivers, dams and groundwater sources.

This has far-reaching health implications, with exposure increasing the risk of waterborne diseases such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid, besides others. It also affects agriculture, as farmers who irrigate with polluted water risk damaging their crops.

“We are facing a pollution crisis in South Africa and we have to take action now,” says Seitlholo, noting that no amount of cleaning the dams and rivers will help unless the sources of the problem are resolved. WHY OUR PRODUCT?