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A storm is brewing after a citizen-led report threw shade at the City of Cape Town’s claims that its beaches boast pristine seawater quality.
The city’s officials and a local environmental group, RethinkTheStink, are locking horns over the state of the city’s coastal waters with Project Blue, a citizen-driven investigation, at the heart of the dispute, getting tongues wagging and tempers flaring.
Between 4 November and 6 December 2024, Project Blue tested water quality at popular beaches around Table Bay and False Bay. Their findings showed how sewage contamination was detected at key recreational spots, even calling into question the City’s water quality claims at Blue Flag beaches.
In response, the City hit back, claiming the two labs used by Project Blue weren’t accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) to test for E. coli and enterococci in seawater. They also called out the report for lacking scientific references.
DA Western Cape spokesperson for environmental affairs, Dave Bryant, came out swinging in a recent statement, accusing Project Blue of “relying on unaccredited laboratories” and demanding a public apology.
But the plot thickens: Daily Maverick has seen proof that the labs used by Project Blue are, in fact, SANAS-accredited. Adding more spice to the saga, Project Blue pointed out that one of the labs was specifically chosen because—wait for it—the City had used it before.
City Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews has weighed in on the escalating Project Blue saga, calling out the citizen-led report for allegedly misrepresenting facts.
Andrews slammed the findings, stating, “It is of great concern that the Project Blue report — which incorrectly attributes SANAS accreditation to its results — is used to cast aspersions on water quality data from not one, but two laboratories that are in fact SANAS-accredited for microbiological analyses of seawater samples.”
He didn’t stop there, adding, “This is at best a major oversight by the three academics named in the Project Blue report or, at worst, a major misrepresentation of the facts with the intent to mislead the public.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Daily Maverick has confirmed the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) certifications of the two labs involved in Project Blue. One lab holds accreditation for testing E. coli in potable water, effluent, and environmental samples. The other is certified to test for both E. coli and Enterococci in saline water. These findings throw a wrench in the City of Cape Town’s claims that Project Blue relied on unaccredited labs, further muddying the waters in this ongoing clash.
The authors, Dr Jo Barnes, an epidemiologist whose research concentrates on environmental health, and Emeritus Professor Leslie Petrik of the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Western Cape, tested the collected seawater for levels of E. coli and Enterococci, the presence of which indicates faecal matter in water.
According to the report, on the Table Bay Side, exceedances of safe limits for E. coli and Enterococci occurred on 42% of sampling dates. On the False Bay Side, exceedances occurred on 38% of sampling dates.
They also relayed that bacteria levels for Camps Bay water were almost 10 times higher than the acceptable amount in the sample tested. Read more here.
RethinkTheStink is standing its ground, reminding the City that its study was a short-term pilot to address public concerns—not a forensic investigation. They’ve accused officials of holding them to impossible standards as tensions between the two camps continue to rise.
“It in fact clearly states that it is a limited, citizen-driven investigation into the seawater quality at a few selected beaches. It is disappointing that the City has taken such an adversarial and intimidating approach rather than listening to the concerns of its citizens,” RethinkTheStink director Caroline Marx said.
Project Blue has issued a clear challenge to the City of Cape Town: step up its game. The report calls for the implementation of advanced sewage treatment technologies, stricter regulations, and consistent monitoring to tackle the ongoing pollution. The project is also urging closer collaboration between municipal authorities and residents to address the sewage issues plaguing the city’s beaches and coastline.
As the feud intensifies, the message is clear—protecting Cape Town’s coastal gems will require teamwork and bold action—except both the City and the DA have waged war against Project Blue, which Bryant accused of having “threatened Cape Town’s reputation as a world-class coastal destination”.
Meanwhile, Petrik criticised the fact that the City was questioning their data while it did not release its own raw data, the labs it used, or allow independent monitoring of its own sample collection, handling, transport and cold chain management, “making their claims of excellence doubtful”.
“This is especially so since even their own ‘Know your coast’ reports over many years show high bacterial exceedances in coastal seawater from time to time. Nothing has changed in terms of the poor efficiency of local wastewater treatment plants or marine outfalls, so it is very odd that the City data is consistently so very ‘excellent’ in late 2024,” Petrik said.
Furthermore, Anthony Turton, professor in the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of Free State, who independently advised on the sampling protocols and conclusions of Project Blue, concluded that “the test protocols chosen by the (City) are inadequate in assessing the human health risks”.
Turton explained to Daily Maverick that there is a significant public trust deficit, compounded by a long-standing history of conflicts between the City and various concerned special interest groups in the region.
The city can lie through their teeth to keep Cape Town’s reputation as a world-class coastal destination, but the kuk will eventually come out.
[Source: Daily Maverick]
