The Free State’s plight today is a cautionary tale of what happens when government fails at its most basic duties. Here is a province blessed with life-giving rivers and dams that underpin agriculture, industry, and the daily life of millions. Yet through corruption, incompetence, and neglect, those natural resources have been turned into public health hazards. The Free State has, in effect, become the worst-run province in South Africa when it comes to water management, with raw sewage running in its rivers and nary a response from those in charge. This is environmental vandalism of the highest order, and it ultimately impacts every South African, since water knows no provincial boundaries.

By Dr Igor Scheurkogel MP, a member of the NCOP Select Committee of CoGTA and Water and Sanitation

Court orders are ignored; fines are ineffective. It is finally time to see officials face jail time.

From the Vaal River to the Wilge, Vals, Vet, Sand, Caledon, and Modder Rivers the Free State’s waterways have become literal dumping grounds for untreated sewage and waste.

In Mafube Local Municipality (Frankfort/Villiers), persistent sewage spills have contaminated the Wilge River, a critical water source that feeds into the Vaal River system and supplies millions of people in the Free State and Gauteng. This is not an isolated incident: a 2022 High Court ruling described Mafube as a “perpetual perpetrator” of pollution in the Wilge and Vaal Rivers, having ignored court orders dating back to 2004. Despite explicit instructions to halt the sewage pollution, no improvements have been made. The result is rivers choked with effluent, ecosystems under siege, and communities living amid the stench and danger of raw sewage.

Also read: Court rules that state must pay for toxic pollution on Limpopo farm

The scale of water resource destruction in the Free State is staggering. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation’s audits, as of late 2022, 77% of municipalities were polluting rivers and streams with untreated sewage, and dozens failed basic water quality standards. The Free State has earned the ignominious distinction of being the worst offender: two out of three wastewater treatment plants in the province are in a critical state, utterly failing to treat sewage.

The consequences of this pollution are dire. In Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality (Phuthaditjhaba and surrounds), all seven wastewater treatment works have collapsed, meaning up to 31 million litres of sewage per day receive little to no treatment and simply flow into the Vaal Dam, which supplies water upstream to approximately 19 million people. The spillage is so widespread that in the fields outside town, cattle literally drink and graze on sewage. Small-scale farmers watch their livestock sicken and die. Animals also bioaccumulate toxins and pathogens, meaning the health risks extend to humans who consume meat or crops from the area.

How did things get this bad? The short answer: collapse of governance by Free State local and provincial officials. Sewage treatment plants across the Free State have been allowed to fall apart, with many simply abandoned authorities. In some areas, entire pump stations are broken, causing raw sewage to bypass treatment works and gush into rivers and communal areas or backyards of residents. Decades of under-investment and the flight of technical skills mean even basic repairs aren’t done.

This crisis has not gone unnoticed by oversight bodies. Courts and regulators have intervened, but their orders are often ignored as officials dare the rule of law. The South African Human Rights Commission’s 2024 report for the Free State was equally scathing, highlighting multiple human rights infringements arising from ongoing sewage spills breaching citizens’ rights to a clean environment and violating the National Water Act.

The culture of non-action in the Free State is such that court deadlines pass without compliance, and officials face little accountability. Fines are ineffective when paid with public money.

It is finally time to see officials in jail.

Also read: Agriculture suffocates in Lephalale’s sewage

Municipal ineptitude has also created a crippling cycle of debt. A prime example is Matjhabeng, where mismanagement has also seen municipality’s finances collapse to the point that it stopped paying its water bills. Matjhabeng alone has racked up over R6 billion in unpaid bills to the regional water board, Vaal Central Water. According to a National Treasury letter, this single municipality’s non-payment has brought the water board “to the verge of collapse”, leaving it unable to repair and maintain crucial water infrastructure.

It’s a vicious Catch-22: broken municipal systems pollute the raw water, and at the same time, municipalities fail to pay the very water boards that must clean that water for consumers. Other Free State councils Mangaung Metro (Bloemfontein), Kopanong, Nala and more owe massive sums to water providers as well. The Minister of Water and Sanitation recently revealed that, nationwide, municipalities owe an astounding R25.6 billion to water boards. This mountain of debt is not just a number on a ledger it translates directly into dry taps, sporadic water cuts, and unsafe drinking water for ordinary citizens when water boards cannot afford chemicals, electricity, or skilled staff to purify and pump water.

Also read: Court rules that state must pay for toxic pollution on Limpopo farm

What will it take to fix this? Enforcement of the law and political will. The laws on paper from the National Water Act to the Constitution are clear: it is illegal and unconstitutional to let sewage contaminate water sources. Yet laws mean nothing if not

enforced. Officials who preside over such failures must be removed, and if evidence warrants, criminally charged and tried. The recent opening of 36 criminal cases against 26 municipalities by water authorities is a start, but it must go further in the Free State. Sustained oversight is needed to ensure court orders translate into real action.

At the same time, financial management must be overhauled. It is unacceptable that billions earmarked for services vanish while infrastructure rots. The National Treasury’s consideration of withholding grants from serial offenders is a bold step essentially cutting off the allowance until the house is put in order. This could compel better behaviour, but only if coupled with capacity-building: many Free State towns lack engineers and competent managers. Public-private partnerships and bringing in technical experts may be the emergency triage required to stop the sewage flows while local government is rebuilt.

The rivers of the Free State should be assets for economic growth and sources of life, not symbols of decay. Reclaiming them will require an all-hands effort and new governance models that put competent management in charge and hold failures accountable. South Africa cannot afford for an entire province’s water system to collapse. The humanitarian, environmental, and economic stakes are simply too high.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of African Farming

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