The City of Cape Town doubles partnerships with community-based organisations to reduce river pollution. The Water and Sanitation Directorate marked an important milestone in strengthening its collaboration with non-profit organisations recently, that are dedicated to improve river conditions and sanitation solutions.
Reportedly, 22 community-based organisations were recognised for their initiatives and awarded with a share of R3.5 million in grant funding, for their proposed projects which aims to improve environmental conditions across the city.
After a rigorous evaluation of 39 applications submitted in December 2025, the City of Cape Town awarded funding to 22 community organisations. The projects were selected based on their individual merits, including:
- Their ability to address water pollution in priority hotspot areas,
- Involvement of local residents in planned activities, and
- Clear implementation plans to measure impact over the next five months
According to the City, this second round of funding is doubling the number of organisations, which supported since the launch of the programme in 2024-25. This year, a stronger focus was placed on practical, short-term interventions that can be implemented between February and June 2026.
All these successful projects aim to:
- Increase the number of community clean ups in polluted waterways city-wide
- Address societal behaviours leading to sewer blockages, vandalism and misuse
- Increase the number of community members trained as river wardens
- Upskill local artisans to address water leaks and support water conservation
- Strengthen active citizenry through community-led education and awareness workshops
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that by supporting their second cohort of community-led projects, they are investing in innovative, locally driven solutions that encourage active citizenry and deliver measurable improvements to river health and water and sanitation management across Cape Town.
Cllr Badroodien further stated that these partnerships are essential to build a more water-resilient city for current and future generations and most importantly for the development of the nation.