The City of Cape Town has submitted a report to Barbara Creecy, minister of fisheries, forestry and environment, detailing a recent 60-day public participation initiative concerning the City’s marine outfall permits.
According to a recent statement, the report provides a summary of the public engagement process, outlining the inputs received and comments made regarding the outfalls.
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Minister Creecy is currently reviewing appeals regarding her department’s issuance of permits for the City’s marine outfalls, taking public participation inputs into consideration. However, she is still deliberating on these appeals, even after eight years have passed since the permits were initially applied for.
Among these appeals are the Hout Bay permit, which was issued in 2019, and the Green Point and Camps Bay permits, which were issued in December 2022.
The City completed a scoping study in 2023 to propose alternatives and associated costs for the treatment of effluent that is currently being discharged by the three marine outfalls.
‘In the interim, the City is focusing on short-term options for refurbishment, replacement, and maintenance to extend the lifespan of existing treatment infrastructure,’ said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for water and sanitation.
‘Overall, the City is making major investments to improve wastewater treatment and upgrade sewers, to the benefit of inland and coastal water quality, with a 226% increase in the overall infrastructure budget, from R2,3bn in 2022/23 to R7,8bn in 2025/26,’ Badroodien added.
From 18 September to 18 November 2023, a total of 1 979 comments were received about the marine outfalls, which also included opportunities to ‘make submissions and attend six community engagement sessions’.
The report is available on the City’s website.
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Picture: Pexels / Mathias Reding
