Government lifts limits on how much sewage Cape Town may pump into ocean

Lester Kiewit speaks with Farhana Patel, Chief Director of Appeals at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE).

Listen below.

The DFFE has lifted the City of Cape Town’s restrictions on pumping sewerage into the ocean.

Minister Dion George says Cape Town has coastal waters discharge permits for three marine outfalls in Green Point, Camps Bay and Hout Bay.

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These permits allow the city to discharge 25 million, 11.3 million, and 5 million litres of sewage into the sea per day from each of these outfalls respectively.

However, an interim decision was taken to suspend the effluent quantity limits, which the City has been exceeding.

Patel says the city requested this suspension because it was impossible for them to comply with the permits.

They argued that there was no differentiation between the annual total volume of dry and wet weather peak flow, which makes a huge difference in sewerage volume.

The minister made this decision after a 2017 CSIR report determined there was no immediate ecological impact from these outflows.

“It must be understood that the minister must make his decisions based on evidence.”

- Farhana Patel, Chief Director of Appeals - DFFE

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.