Willowton Group calls on others to help clean up rivers

The Willowton Group, which have been clearing a section of the Baynespruit River in Pietermaritzburg over the past four months, says this section of the river was not as severely impacted during the recent floods as a result of work done.

Willowton Group Quality and Food Safety Manager Dr Abie Khan said: “There is a lot less debris along the embankment and the regular clearings have resulted in limited dirt collecting along the banks of the river,” Khan said.

Willowton said Baynespruit posed a severe risk to those living along its banks due to high levels of the bacteria E coli.

“We need to see the bigger picture. According to the latest Green Drop Report released by the Department of Water and Sanitation, it will take more than R8 billion and many years to repair South Africa’s failing sewage and wastewater systems and to restore water quality. Hopefully, as we have with electricity, we will not realise the importance of this strategic resource when it is too late,” Khan said.

Micole Martens, General Manager of Talbot Laboratories, which has partnered with Willowton Group to help monitor the E coli levels said the E coli counts at the beginning of the March 23 clean-up were as high as the counts observed on February 15, showing that a clean-up along the entirety of the river was needed.

Khan said that less refuse had been collected in March as the focus had been on clearing the bank to improve the river’s flow.

“The clean-up is ongoing and, as has been said before, will only have a significant impact if other players join the cause. Cleaning a 1km stretch of the river is only going to have an aesthetic impact in the vicinity of the clean-up,” he said.

Khan confirmed that the next clean-up would take place at the end of April. All clean-ups focus on the removal of plastic, paper and cardboard, metal and alien vegetation from the watercourse as well as testing and monitoring the water quality.

Willowton Group said it has been working with DUCT (Dusi Umgeni Conservation Trust) as a fellow founder of the Baynespruit Conservancy in 2020, to rally neighbouring industries and local government in Pietermaritzburg to clean up the provincial capital’s rivers.