After relentless DA pressure, the Knysna Municipality has finally released the latest municipal estuary water quality report for September 2026, and the results paint a bleak picture. Our estuary is in crisis.
The impact of this worsening situation extends across our town, to every resident, fisherman, tour operator, restaurant owner, hotelier, worker and family whose livelihood and health depends on the Knysna Estuary.
This is not just an environmental issue, but a potential public health and economic emergency. We all recognise that when the estuary is sick, Knysna suffers.
According to National guidelines, recreational water may not exceed 500 E. coli/100ml, but the latest results reveal a devastating picture across our estuary.
Compared with September 2025, six of the eight recreational points have deteriorated.
- Costa Sarda has exploded to 26,900/100ml, up from just 170/100ml in September 2025.
- Green Hole, a place where many children swim, has risen to 1,010/100ml from 40/100ml.
- The Salt River remains nearly 20 times the safe recreational limit at 9,500/100ml.
- Crabs Creek has increased to 135/100ml from 4/100ml.
- The Heads to 70/100ml from 29/100ml.
- Belvidere to 16/100ml from 8/100ml.
Only Lake Brenton and Bollard Bay shows slight improvement.
At the culverts, the situation remains severe, with none being compliant. Bongani culvert has skyrocketed to 46,000/100ml from 7,200/100ml in September 2025. Queen Street stands at 10,000/100ml, Long Street at 4,100/100ml, KADA at 2,100/100ml, Train Station at 1,430/100ml, and Bigai at 690/100ml.
The total count across all sites has more than doubled from 49,227 in the last report (27 July 2026) to 101,987 in September.
Our tourism economy, our fishing, our swimming, our health and our marine life are all dependent on the state of our estuary. Additionally, the very popular and successful Chukka Festival, which is the town’s third largest tourism event, is again at risk due to the unsafe water quality.
The DA will not allow another season of excuses.
When in government, the DA will implement a clear plan to deal with pollution in our estuary.
Our 5P manifesto details clear actions to recover the damage done. We will declare a zero-discharge policy for the Knysna Estuary and compliance will be monitored through monthly water quality testing at designated estuary points, with results published publicly. We will fix and maintain the pumps to avoid estuary contamination.
We will partner with various stakeholders to implement an Estuary Recovery Programme with the goals of effective water quality improvements within two years.
We will commission an independent pipe condition assessment and prioritise urgent replacements. We will establish dedicated rapid response teams for burst pipes.
We will audit sewage pump stations within 30 days and publish the outcomes thereof, and implement a Pump Station Rehabilitation Programme. We will also establish a 24/7 Pump Monitoring and Rapid Response capability using SCADA technology, enabling the municipality to detect pump failures remotely before they cause overflows.
We call on the ANC-led coalition to immediately take action to arrest this pollution.
The Knysna Estuary is our greatest natural asset, our heritage, and our children’s future. It is not a dumping ground. The DA will continue to fight for a clean estuary because Knysna’s future depends on it.
The DA demands the Knysna Municipality to immediately release the latest estuary report. This critical report is overdue by more than a week, and residents deserve transparency about our most precious asset.
Under this ANC-led coalition, the estuary, the only natural estuarine bay in Africa, has suffered major decline through raw sewage, failing pumps, and polluted waterways.
The persistent degradation of the estuary directly jeopardises Knysna’s local tourism economy, small business livelihoods, and irreplaceable aquatic ecosystems.
While residents wait for answers from the municipality, the DA is ready with a clear plan to restore and protect the estuary.
We will implement two aspect our Five-Ps pledge to fix and protect our estuary.
Under our Pollution pledge, we will declare a zero-discharge policy for the estuary, with monthly water-quality test results published.
We will execute the Pump Station Rehabilitation Programme as the primary anti-pollution intervention, and we will partner with SANParks, the Breede-Olifants CMA, and the Western Cape Government to deliver measurable estuary recovery within two years.
Under our Pipes and Pumps pledge, we will commission an independent pipe condition assessment within 90 days and publish a costed five-year Pipe Replacement and Rehabilitation Plan.
We will also establish a rapid response team with a two-hour maximum response to major bursts.
We will audit all pump stations within 30 days and publish the results. We will rehabilitate or replace all non-functional sewage pump stations within 18 months. Additionally, we will introduce 24/7 SCADA-linked pump monitoring and rapid response.
On 4 November, residents hold the power to choose the DA. We are a party that prioritises service delivery over ‘me-first’ politics. Residents certainly deserve better.
Today’s council meeting was deliberately collapsed by the Coalition councillors.
The Speaker amended the order of business allowing the first item (legal proceedings wrt Mr Ngubo as Acting Municipal Manager) to be placed last.
The item on the appointment of Acting Director Corporate, saw Councillor Campbell proposing that the Directors (Ms Boyce & Mr Wesso) currently under suspension facing disciplinary charges, be brought back by inter alia, lifting their suspensions. Her recommendation failed in that it received no support.
Council resolved on the Acting Director Infrastructure appointment, Mr Mpumelelo Nzuzo, currently the Senior Manager Project Management Unit who has acted in this position previously.
The contentious matter, being the legal proceedings related to MEC Bredell / Knysna Municipality / Mr Ngubo erupted into chaos with the Coalition councillors being disorderly, disruptive and belligerent.
Cllr Campbell was the first councillor recognised by the speaker who attempted to make recommendations before the matter was even considered.
The coalition councillors continued in their disruptive behaviour demanding a 2hour caucus. The DA, before submitting our recommendations, requested a caucus to consider Councillor Campbell’s recommendations.
Speaker granted a 15 minute caucus to all poltical parties, after which the coalition councillors did not return resulting in council not quorating.
When councillors deliberately refuse to return to a council meeting to cause a collapse due to a lost quorum, the meeting must be suspended and eventually adjourned if a quorum is not regained — which is what happened.
Under South African local government law, deliberate walk-outs and calculated boycotts to obstruct governance carry specific legal and disciplinary procedures. The names of the councillors present and those who departed without authorized leave must be officially recorded in the meeting minutes — this was done.
Repeated collapses waste public funds — noteworthy here is the security costs incurred in relation to the councillors who continue to receive security protection.
The coalition councillors deserve to face the consequences of their actions and we will continue to ensure that the Code of Conduct Breaches are dealt with for obstructing and collapsing the 4th council sitting — a violation in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act and the Code of Conduct for Councillors.
Disciplinary action is well documented in the courts such as DA v Premier for Gauteng which confirms that orchestrated walk-outs are unlawful. Councillors engaging in disruptive tactics or persistent absenteeism can be formally charged, fined, suspended, or investigated by a special council committee.
Unexcused absence from three or more consecutive council meetings requires mandatory removal procedures under the Municipal Structures Act.
Intervention: Persistent collapse and dysfunction can prompt provincial intervention via the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) under Section 139 of the Constitution.
The DA will continue to ensure these councillors and Mr Ngubo are held accountable for holding our Town, council and municipality to ransom, in pursuit of self interest!
KNYSNA
