Man distraught as hundreds of fish die
Ricky Coelho quietly walks along the banks of the Sandpan, dragging dozens of dead carp from the water's edge.
WATCH: About 1 500 fish die in Rynfield, community asked to intervene
“Jeez, it’s bad; it’s heartsore,” said Coelho, when asked how he felt about the sight.
“…We have to pray big and hard for rain.”
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Coelho, who is the chairperson of Country View, was walking in the area with his wife, Angelina, on Sunday, when he noticed dead fish on the banks.
“We noticed there were plenty of dead fish, hundreds of them – dead,” he said.
He took to several WhatsApp groups and asked the public for assistance.
What transpired was scores of people, some coming from as far as Sandton and Nigel, converging on the pan at 2pm, most wielding buckets and nets.
The volunteers started pulling fish from the water and placing them in buckets.
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The fish were relocated into another area of the pan, which has deeper, cooler water.
Crystal Park resident Martin Oelofse arrived with a 2L oxygen cylinder, which he used to administer oxygen to 10 fish.
Oelofse said he inserted the pipe down the mouths of the fish, many of which responded by wriggling around.
He feels he saved about 10 fish as a result.
Coelho told the City Times on Monday that the community successfully saved about 500 fish on Sunday.
However, it was too late for around 800 to 1 000 others.
Some 600 fish were pulled from the water on Monday alone, some of them measuring up to 800mm in length.
Coelho suspects the carp are dying as a result of the dry conditions and the lack of oxygen in the water.
The water has receded about 50m, causing a lot of it to be confined to six small dams.
On Monday, Coelho took a day off work in an effort to continue his rescue efforts.
With the help of six workers, he was again relocating fish.
The Rynfield resident praised the community for coming out in their numbers.
“It was actually awesome to see how many fish we saved, I was over the moon,” Coelho added.
“We called once and everybody was there; it was actually amazing to see that people actually do still care about conservation.
“Yesterday, when we called, the community was there; my hair even rose when I saw all the cars.”
Water tests will be conducted to establish whether there is any sewage in the water; however, Coelho is confident a lack of oxygen is to blame.
The fish which have been moved will be relocated, once the pan has been replenished by rain.
Meanwhile, no water restrictions have yet been enforced by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), although they have asked people to use water sparingly.
