Ordinary citizens can take steps to ensure their environment stays clean. This is according to Nomsa Deale, a representative of WaterCAN.
Deale was reacting to the 2025 Green Drop Report, which found that nearly half of South Africa’s wastewater treatment plants — 326 of 848 — are in a critical state.
“What this often means is that the wastewater has not been properly treated, infrastructure is broken or it’s poorly maintained, and there are frequent spills into the environment,” she said in an interview with Salaamedia on Thursday.
She added: “In simple terms, it means that the system is failing the communities it’s supposed to serve”.
The latest Green Drop Report was released by the department of water and sanitation this week. Pemmy Majodina, the minister responsible for the portfolio, said her department would intensify oversight to ensure compliance in troubled municipalities.
“We cannot allow a situation where infrastructure continues to fail while plans remain on paper. Implementation must be immediate, visible and measurable. Where there is inaction, the department will act,” Majodina stated.
Deale said residents could do their bit where authorities failed. “Change doesn’t only come from the top,” she asserted. “I think it also comes from active communities.”
She suggested residents could test water, report infrastructural issues and pressure authorities to act.
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Image: Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina. Credit: Misha Jordaan/Gallo Images via Getty Images.
