Community rallies against sewage pollution along Cape Town coastline

Lifelong surfer and water quality advocate Jamii Hamlin says Cape Town’s Helderberg coastline is facing ongoing sewage pollution that is affecting daily life, water safety, and tourism. 

He explains that untreated sewage is contaminating rivers, beaches, and oceans, exposing communities to harmful bacteria and creating uncertainty around recreational water use.

Hamlin warns that water quality can fluctuate unpredictably due to sewage overflows and stormwater drains, particularly after rainfall, and that current public reporting is insufficient.

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He proposes a water quality flag system to give beachgoers real-time guidance, similar to the shark-spotting programme that informs residents about potential dangers in the water.

"I've made many suggestions and written to the City of Cape Town, to the mayor. We need to establish a water quality flag system, which would help provide recreational beachgoers with some indication as to what the current status is. 

"It doesn't always necessarily need to be driven purely by hard data, there's an opportunity to use experienced water users who have an understanding to their local water quality when it's not particularly comfortable to be in the water and to be able to use it as a means to communicate to the community that there has been a change or an improvement to the water."

Hamlin says the community is mobilising with petitions and a peaceful march in Strand on 16 January, coupled with a beach cleanup. 

To listen to Hamlin in conversation with CapeTalk's Amy MacIver, use the audio player below: