Talking dirty - effluent and sewage irreverence in South Africa: A conservation crime perspective

The deteriorating state of municipal wastewater and sewage treatment management in South Africa is one of the largest contributing factors to the numerous pollution problems experienced in most parts of the country and a major contributor to environmental and human health problems. The state's incapacity to fulfill its basic mandate on all three spheres of governance (national, regional and local) of effectively protecting the rights and property of all persons (natural and juridical), frustrates economic growth, and is paralleled only by its dedicated neglect of limited natural resources. This article provides a metaphysical overview of the proximate and diffuse causes of the environmental and social issues impacted by this Manichean form of thinking, placing in context the increasingly opaque silhouette of the interface between waste water mismanagement (irreverence), on the one hand, and the enviro-social impact (victimisation) thereof on the other.