Overview
- Emalahleni pleaded guilty under a Section 105A agreement to environmental and water law offences committed between March 2019 and March 2025.
- The sentence is a R650 million fine or 10 years’ imprisonment, with R500 million ring-fenced for repairs by April 2031 and R150 million suspended for five years conditional on no repeat offences.
- Investigations by the Green Scorpions and Blue Scorpions documented untreated sewage from collapsing systems contaminating tributaries feeding the Olifants River, including Witbank Dam and industrial sites.
- The Department of Cooperative Governance reports the Ferrobank Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade is 27% complete with R309 million in Municipal Infrastructure Grant funding and MISA technical support.
- The Department of Water and Sanitation will monitor the municipality’s action plan while the NPA signals continued prosecution of environmental crimes.