---
title: "The sewer still fouling the Cradle is emblematic of local government failure"
description: "The discharge of raw sewage through this area is nothing short of a crime against South Africa’s scientific and cultural heritage. Indeed, it is a crime against humanity’s collective heritage – it is a World Heritage Site, for crying out loud, and it is being treated like a latrine."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Reporter’s Notebook"
author: "Ed Stoddard"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/ed-stoddard/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-11-02-the-sewer-still-fouling-the-cradle-is-emblematic-of-local-government-failure/"
published: "2026-11-02T13:47:06"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1245
---

# The sewer still fouling the Cradle is emblematic of local government failure

> The discharge of raw sewage through this area is nothing short of a crime against South Africa’s scientific and cultural heritage. Indeed, it is a crime against humanity’s collective heritage – it is a World Heritage Site, for crying out loud, and it is being treated like a latrine.

By Ed Stoddard · Published 2 November 2026, 15:47 SAST

## Key points
- Three years after sewage was exposed flowing through the Cradle of Humankind, Mogale City’s failure to fix the crisis continues to pollute a World Heritage Site.
- The collapse of the Percy Stewart treatment plant and nearby pump stations is poisoning rivers, threatening public health and leaving residents’ complaints unanswered.
- At Brookwood Trout Farm, once a thriving fishing destination, trout have vanished, visitor numbers have collapsed and jobs have been lost.
- The ecological devastation is also an economic and political indictment – and voters may deliver their verdict at the polls.

## Content

In November 2023, I did a story for this publication on how a sewer was running through the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site in the heart of Gauteng that had been [befouled by local government failure](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-07-a-sewer-runs-through-it-trout-barbel-and-the-microcosm-of-state-failure-in-the-cradle-of-humankind/).

With the municipal polls looming on Wednesday, it is surely telling that it remains a cesspool. The current administration that “runs” Mogale City has simply proven itself to be incapable of, or disinterested in, resolving this literal shit show.

For me, it’s deeply personal. Fly fishing is my abiding passion, and the despoiling of the Blaaubankspruit rendered the dams at the Brookwood Trout Farm – my go-to nearby fishing place for more than 20 years – toxic for trout.

![The BrookwoodTroutFarm listing image on \[visvangverblyf.co.za\](http://visvangverblyf.co.za) is quite idyllic.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/sEynON4lcMGKIxT3B2_gm5_v0io=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2999/a0a75c6e7e-avatar-orig_485214.jpg)

The Blaaubankspruit also flows past the famed Sterkontein Caves, home to a treasure trove of fossils that have shone the light of science on humanity’s evolutionary journey in its African cradle.

The discharge of raw sewage through this area is nothing short of a crime against South Africa’s scientific and cultural heritage. Indeed, it is a crime against humanity’s collective heritage – it is a World Heritage Site for crying out loud, and it is being treated like a latrine.

This all stems from the collapse of the Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Plant and sewage pump stations at Munsieville and Brickvale.

The last time the City sent out a press release about the matter was two years ago on 17 October 2024 – and that was pointedly in [response to President Cyril Ramaphosa raising concerns about the issue](https://mogalecity.gov.za/mogale-city-acknowledges-letter-from-the-presidency/).

Mogale City is governed by a coalition with the ANC at the helm, and when the big boss is displeased, the cadres scramble to apply lipstick to a pig:

> “While the municipality acknowledges historic Percy Stewart Wastewater Treatment Plant and sewage pump stations challenges and endeavours to keep affected parties abreast of developments at the plant and sites, the municipality would like to assure residents, local businesses and members of the media that the facilities are receiving the necessary attention to ensure that effluent discharged into our rivers is safe for people, animals and the environment.”

This, it seems, was a steaming pile of manure, and in terms of media statements on the matter, it has been radio silence since.

The constant stream of complaints from Mogale residents and ratepayers apparently does not warrant a public response, but the City will rise to a fly cast by the president.

![A stairwell at a Mogale City sewage treatment plant filled with untreated water. (Photo: Ed Stoddard)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/JI3W-jYVRDKQ25bdtyi9JyCXvMo=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/BM-Ed-LocalEelctions2026-Cradle2_579572.jpg)

*A stairwell at a Mogale City sewage treatment plant, filled with untreated water. (Photo: Ed Stoddard)*

I tried to reach out to Mogale City for comment, but to no avail. I suppose everyone is busy with elections!

“The outflow from Percy Stewart has been problematic for 10 years, and that hasn’t changed,” Trevor Brough, a community activist who is a member of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site Association, told me.

“The pump stations sometimes work for a year or so and then they give up the ghost again.”

Brough has been monitoring the situation like a hawk for years and produces regular reports on this sordid drama.

### Constantly monitoring

In his latest update from late September, he noted that on the 14th of that month he visited the Munsieville pump station and it had been offline for four days because of an apparent electrical issue.

[Catch up

A Sewer Runs Through It — trout, barbel and the microcosm of state failure in the Cradle of Humankind

November 7, 2023 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/0w2KqlBpscj32KTD959lLR-7bgQ=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Untitled-1-12.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-11-07-a-sewer-runs-through-it-trout-barbel-and-the-microcosm-of-state-failure-in-the-cradle-of-humankind/)

“Currently the sewage level in the sump is elevated and trucks are being used to pump out the waste. At the same time there is an overflowing manhole and the sewage is flowing down the street. This carries on down the valley and into the Blougat Spruit,” he wrote.

That then flows eventually into the Blaaubankspruit.

The report is a tale of woe downstream from there, with sewage flowing all over the show and water samples taken that clearly indicate hazards for humans.

[Media: "Chart: Mogale City slashed its capital budget by 21% while its sewage works collapsed"](https://charts.dailymaverick.co.za/chart/f26e2e1591a611f37ee08cd3)

Returning to Brookwood and my personal take on this unfolding catastrophe, I popped by there recently. It was once a thriving, family-run business that employed nine staff.

The affable David Bain, who runs the operation with his family, told me that only two staff were now employed by Brookwood and that from 400 visitors often on the weekend he was now lucky to get 40 tops.

The dams there can still accommodate hardy species such as barbel, bream and carp, but no longer trout, which was the main attraction.

### Not just good fishing grounds

Brookwood for me in the past was not only a reasonably close destination for a bit of trout fishing in a picturesque setting. It was also the venue where I introduced many friends and family members over the years to the fine art of fly fishing, hooking several along the way.

The memories are many. The third Wednesday of each month was “Fishing Night” which included a braai, some dops and casting by moonlight. The Daily Maverick Joburg bureau even had a social day – in corporate jargon I suppose it is called “Team Building” – there once that I organised.

It’s all been flushed down the toilet of municipal rot.

There is a lot of often heated debate about trout in South African waters since all of the species are non-native.

![Lerato-NWAP-Explainer](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/o2ak3py9w9VS_UbOwu2NWEjUVhE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/ED_461990_686880.jpg)

*A site where sewage flows into a river from a water treatment plant on 26 July 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is reported that the sewage problem began in 2019 due to a lack of management and maintenance at the Percy Stewart Sewage Treatment Plant. (Photo: Gallo Images / Rapport / Elizabeth Sejake)*

But trout are also what biologists term an “indicator species” – a species that gives a gin-clear indication of the health of an aquatic ecosystem. And the Cradle’s ecosystem is flashing red.

The spruit that runs through Brookwood remains like it was three years ago – virtually lifeless. I spied a single weaver’s nest hanging over it from a branch, but saw none of the bird species I often saw there in the past: an assortment of kingfishers, egrets, herons and other birds.

All birds that, like trout, also indicate the health of a freshwater stream. And David said the small-scale and large-scale yellowfish that I used to also cast for had not returned.

> “The water quality varies, sometimes there is literally crap coming down it, sometimes it is cleaner. There is no life in that stream now.”

Even the section of the Braamfontein Spruit in Joburg where I cast flies for barbel in the summer is cleaner and healthier, with an abundance of birds and other life. And that is surely a revealing contrast as the Braamfontein Spruit is hardly pristine.

David has had to make a plan and hustle for other sources of income, including his management of the [Syringa Trout venue not far away, which is spring fed](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-12-fly-fishing-gauteng-spawns-a-new-spring-fed-trout-venue/).

Trout are a biological indicator, and the gutting of small businesses in the Cradle such as Brookwood is an indicator of local government failure, highlighting the point that the collapse of sewage systems takes both an ecological and economic toll.

It can also take a political toll.

Mogale City’s leadership does not seem to give a literal shit about this sorry state of affairs. Come election day on 4 November, they may find that voters do. **DM**

[Media: "Who can build a coalition in Johannesburg?"](https://bernard-lgtm.github.io/coalition/v2/johannesburg.html)