10/03/2023
Great turnout for this important public information event last night, including the press and many officials from the City of Cape Town.
Despite being threatened with legal action, having their reputations tarnished through targeted smear campaigns, in some cases having research funding withdrawn, enduring a multitude of threats, and more lately being labelled as nothing more than "eco-opportunists", this small group of concerned citizens has been working hard over many years to highlight the dangers of pumping raw sewage into our oceans in ever increasing quantities.
The current City of Cape Town leadership did not create this problem. The marine outfalls have been in operation for 118 years and the City has inherited the now outdated method of dealing with the ever increasing volumes of human waste. Since at least 2015 we have continually tried to work together with the City of Cape Town to find a long-term sustainable solution for the future, however they have remained stunningly obdurate and committed to this unsustainable practise. At first we were met with blatant denial, deliberate obsfucation and withholding of public information including relevant water quality test results.
While nothing has changed over the last 9 years in terms of raw sewage continuing to be pumped into the ocean, we have at least seen a shift in the attitude of the City towards a more transparent approach and there is now a definite commitment to the sharing of information. The public can now log on the the City website and find test results for their local beaches enabling them to make decisions on their own health and safety.
We had asked the City for an urgent meeting at the beginning of this year to share our latest research and information in the spirit of cooperation and working together, but were told that they were only available towards the middle of the year. Tired of being ignored, we decided to hold this public information meeting and amazing enough suddenly a legion of City officials were available to attend in person. Their attendance was very much appreciated and perhaps now they have a better understanding of the problem, underscored by the most up-to-date scientific research and observations from the public.
We were pleased to hear Councillor Alex Lansdowne address the audience and acknowledge the problems. We hope that the City will recognise the expertise of the scientists within our group and work with them rather than against them. Regardless we are not going away anytime soon and will continue to hold the City to account. Your help and support is much appreciated and together we can strive towards CLEAN OCEANS.
