EDITORIAL: Bug apocalypse

As things fall apart, an environment has been created in which the scavengers of the night are able to thrive. A wet summer brought about a “near-pandemic outbreak” of cockroaches across SA, according to agrochemical advocacy group CropLife SA.

The group, which provides the public with advice on the safe use of pesticides and herbicides, said its emergency line saw a surge of calls from people needing advice on managing cockroach infestations. It was, they said, not only the climate that spurred the critters’ numbers, but also unhygienic conditions.

In their most recent (2022) infrastructure report card, the SA Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) said sanitation and wastewater services in SA were either approaching risk of failure or already unfit for purpose.

The department of water & sanitation’s 2022 Green Drop assessment revealed that out of 995 sanitation systems, only 22 Green Drops were awarded, compared with 60 in 2013. Municipal sanitation and wastewater systems rated to be in a critical state increased from 29% to 39%.

Waste collection and disposal did not perform any better. The SAICE reported a reduction in refuse collection in large urban areas and a big increase in indiscriminate dumping in rural and smaller municipal areas. 

This is just one of the ways in which service delivery decay is chipping away South Africans’ quality of life. The public health implications are alarming.