Department of water and sanitation confirms groundwater exceedances at Thirsti bottling plant in KZN

Environmental justice groups have questioned the legality of groundwater abstraction atbottled water producer Thirsti‘s KwaZulu-Natal facility, alleging that the company has for years extracted water beyond the limits of its existing authorisation while awaiting the outcome of a water use licence application. The allegations, made by theSisonke Environmental Justice Network(SEJN) andAll Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice, centre on Thirsti’s bottling operation in Normandien near Newcastle and have prompted calls for the department of water and sanitation (DWS) to investigate. All Rise and the SEJN argued that Thirsti’s existing general authorisation permits abstraction of only 36 000 cubic metres ofgroundwatera year from a single borehole.

“It does not cover any of the other seven boreholes or the total abstraction volume of 281 371 m³ per year,” they said. The groups allege only about 13% of current use falls within the authorisation, with the remainder unlawful. They further claim the authorisation excludes boreholes within 500m of a wetland and that Thirsti’s own reports show all eight boreholes fall within that buffer zone.

They also allege wastewater is discharged within 500m of a wetland and into a river without authorisation. “When confronted with these facts, Thirsti’s consultants GCS have failed to provide answers.” The dispute centres on a water use licence application through which Thirsti is seeking authorisation to abstract 281 371 cubic metres of groundwater annually from eight boreholes. In a joint statement, Thirsti’s board confirmed Normandien Farms Group owns the brand, which operates at Buffelshoek farm in KwaZulu-Natal’s Northern Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area.

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Asked about the alleged 36 000 m³ limit versus the current abstraction and licence application volumes, Thirsti declined to address the claim directly, saying: “Thirsti is not in a position to respond to the specific allegations raised, as the matters in question fall squarely within the scope of the Water Use Licence Application currently before the Department of Water and Sanitation.” It added that the process “exists precisely to assess the lawful basis and sustainability of the facility’s water use” and should not be pre-empted. All Rise and SEJN also said the department, as the regulator, has taken no effective enforcement action despite alleged long-term over-abstraction. However, DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa confirmed the department became aware of the “exceedance of groundwater abstraction volumes” during a compliance inspection on 24 November 2020. She said the department’s compliance monitoring and enforcement unit first inspected the site in 2016, after receiving a referral complaint from the department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs’ Amajuba district office.

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