Three Eastern Cape municipalities failed to stop sewage fouling rivers and beaches, and Buffalo City ignored the rights commission's repeated requests for its records, the commission found
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In a report released 27 July 2026, the South African Human Rights Commission found that Kouga Local Municipality, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality failed to discharge their duties to prevent pollution, maintain wastewater systems, monitor contamination and protect receiving environments, implicating residents' right to an environment not harmful to health. Commission-ordered testing at Buffalo City's West Bank wastewater facility found E. coli of 616,000 per 100 ml and near-total oxygen depletion, and Buffalo City did not provide the laboratory, incident or corrective-action records the Commission requested on 19 March, 22 April and 11 June 2026. Kouga's own March 2026 data showed KwaNomzamo final effluent exceeding its licensed microbiological limits, and Nelson Mandela Bay's New Brighton Beach recorded E. coli 772% above the coastal recreational benchmark on 16 March 2026. The Commission ordered Buffalo City to submit a 14-day emergency plan for West Bank and directed the national Department of Water and Sanitation to inspect the plant and consider enforcement and criminal referral.
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