As South Africa’s water resources continue to be plagued by pollution, Rand Water and Association for Water and Sanitation Institutions of South Africa chairperson Ramateu Monyokolo has called for the establishment of a National Water Pollution Fund and the enforcement of the polluter pays principle.

The degradation of South Africa’s water resources has become one of the most urgent threats to long-term water security, and the latest Green Drop report should serve as a wake-up call for urgent and decisive action.

“The time has come to move beyond analysing the problem and begin implementing sustainable solutions anchored in accountability, stronger enforcement and innovative financing mechanisms such as a National Water Pollution Fund,” he said.

Across South Africa, rivers, dams, wetlands and groundwater systems are increasingly under siege from pollution, a product of multiple, overlapping failures across the public, private and social landscape.

Ageing sewer networks, collapsing pump stations, overflowing manholes and malfunctioning wastewater treatment plants continue to discharge untreated or partially treated sewage into rivers and streams, while acid mine drainage from abandoned and neglected mines, industrial effluent, chemical discharge and poor waste management practices continue to introduce hazardous substances into water systems, often with long-lasting consequences.

“The private sector, particularly industries whose operations carry a high pollution risk, must therefore be held fully accountable. Environmental compliance cannot be treated as a peripheral obligation. It must be treated as a core responsibility,” Monyokolo urged.

Adding to the challenge is human behaviour at community level, with illegal dumping, littering and the flushing of foreign objects and non-biodegradable waste into water and sanitation systems causing blockages, spills and infrastructure failures that ultimately contaminate rivers and streams.

“Communities that throw foreign objects into sewers, stormwater drains and watercourses contribute directly to pollution and to the breakdown of already strained municipal systems.”

Equally alarming, he said, is the illegal dumping of hazardous and medical waste, such as syringes, contaminated bandages, pharmaceuticals and other medical waste, into rivers and open spaces that drain into watercourses.

This “reckless and unlawful” practice, which poses a grave threat to public health, aquatic ecosystems and downstream users, must be met with severe consequences, Monyokolo continued.

South Africa’s water and environmental legislation already embeds the polluter pays principle, which requires polluters to bear the cost of preventing, controlling and remedying the damage they cause.

“Pollution imposes enormous costs on society through damaged ecosystems, unsafe drinking water, rising treatment costs, reduced agricultural productivity, lost livelihoods and increased public health risks,” he explained, noting that when those costs are absorbed by the public, polluters are effectively subsidised while communities pay the price.

“The polluter pays principle reverses this injustice.”

The Department of Water and Sanitation has placed growing emphasis on this principle, calling for firmer action against municipalities, industries and other entities responsible for water pollution.

“This will require visible and consistent enforcement. Every entity that discharges effluent into rivers, dams or groundwater systems must be held accountable. All organisations whose operations generate pollution must face the full consequences of non-compliance,” Monyokolo said.

Violations must attract meaningful penalties that deter misconduct, rather than being absorbed as a routine cost of doing business, and where pollution causes severe ecological damage or serious risks to human health, criminal and civil liability must be pursued.

“Public participation must also go hand in hand with public education, so that illegal dumping and the disposal of foreign objects into sanitation systems are actively discouraged.”

In addition, municipalities that repeatedly fail to maintain wastewater infrastructure, address sewage spills or comply with remedial directives cannot be allowed to continue without consequence.

“Where persistent failure occurs, corrective action must be enforced under national oversight, supported by clear deadlines, measurable outcomes and penalties for noncompliance.”

While national government has increasingly issued directives and, in some instances, initiated criminal proceedings against municipalities that have failed to address sewage pollution, the country also needs to build a financing model that supports prevention, remediation and long-term restoration.

“Around the world, countries that have made progress in reducing water pollution have not relied on regulation alone. They have combined strong enforcement with economic instruments that align environmental responsibility with financial consequence,” explained Monyokolo.

He cited various successful initiatives globally, such as wastewater discharge charges and environmental levies across Europe which have long been used to incentivise pollution reduction, while, in the US, the Superfund programme established a dedicated mechanism for cleaning up contaminated sites.

In countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, water pollution charges have been used both to deter polluting behaviour and to finance river restoration.

“This shows that effective pollution control requires the integration of accountability and financing.”

In line with this, he said that South Africa should establish a National Water Pollution Fund as a dedicated mechanism to strengthen the implementation of the polluter pays principle.

“Such a fund could be financed through pollution levies on industrial effluent discharge, penalties and fines imposed on polluters, contributions from sectors with elevated pollution risk and environmental compensation payments.”

The fund, which must be ring-fenced and dedicated exclusively to water quality protection, pollution prevention and ecosystem restoration, could finance the rehabilitation of polluted rivers, dams, wetlands and catchments, support targeted upgrades to municipal wastewater treatment plants and enable rapid-response interventions when major pollution incidents threaten communities and ecosystems.

If properly designed and transparently governed, the fund could become a game-changer in South Africa’s water governance architecture, he added.

Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs), which are responsible for supporting pollution prevention, developing catchment management strategies, monitoring water quality and quantity and facilitating stakeholder engagement at catchment level, must be located squarely within the design and implementation of the Water Pollution Fund.

The fund should provide dedicated support for CMA-led activities related to pollution prevention, water quality monitoring, catchment rehabilitation, public awareness and collaborative stakeholder interventions.

“Strengthening CMAs through the Fund would ensure that pollution control is not only reactive, but preventative, localised and sustained.”

He pointed out that the protection of water resources requires partnership, shared responsibility and collective vigilance.

“The public sector must lead through regulation, investment and enforcement. Municipalities must prioritise the maintenance, upgrading and proper operation of wastewater infrastructure. The private sector must adopt cleaner production methods, strengthen waste treatment systems and accept that pollution prevention is a nonnegotiable duty, not an optional extra,” he said, adding that communities must also play their part by protecting rather than polluting the very systems on which they depend.

By rigorously enforcing the polluter pays principle, holding municipalities, communities and the private sector accountable, strengthening regulatory oversight, empowering CMAs and establishing a dedicated National Water Pollution Fund, South Africa can reverse the tide of water pollution, he concluded.