Cape Town, be warned! Raw sewage is contaminating Hout Bay Beach

Lester Kiewit interviews Dr Jo Barnes, an Epidemiologist at Stellenbosch University.

Listen below.

As Capetonians flock to the beaches to escape the heat, Barnes raises concerns about water quality, citing her test results.

The areas most affected include Green Point, Sea Point and Hout Bay.

Barnes highlights that Hout Bay Beach is significantly contaminated with untreated sewage. 

Her testing revealed alarming levels of 8 million E. coli per 100 ml of water in the Disa River that flows into Hout Bay Beach.

"The footprint of this massive sewage intrusion into the sea is much larger than what the engineers used in their models."

- Dr Jo Barnes, Epidemiologist - Stellenbosch University

Barnes notes that it is becoming increasingly challenging to obtain timely results from the City of Cape Town, making it difficult to trace the sources of contamination.

She emphasises that the willingness to address this issue is 'seriously lacking'.

"The City has got a big job in improving the sanitation in informal settlements."

- Dr Jo Barnes, Epidemiologist - Stellenbosch University

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.