No action yet from metro to maintain reeds at Atlasville Spruit
The ward councillor highlighted the maintenance of the reeds should’ve been an annual and ongoing process.
The Ekurhuleni metro hasn’t shown any signs of action since 2017 to maintain the reeds in Atlasville Spruit.
This is according to Ward 23 councillor, André du Plessis.
He said floods of complaints from concerned residents have fallen on deaf ears. The Advertiser last year February ran another story on the plight of the spruit, but nothing has been done since or received a comment from the metro.
According to du Plessis, the last time the reeds were removed from the spruit was during the construction phases of the spruit about three years ago.
“Since 2017 this river has overgrown completely, while 90 per cent of the river is covered in reeds.
“If the metro doesn’t maintain it soon, the reeds are going to become thicker and it’s going to be difficult to maintain it.
“We also cannot allow machines to be used to clear out the reads because they will endanger the species inside the spruit,” said du Plessis.
He said over the past 10 years, millions of rands have been spent to upgrade the embankments and surrounding areas of this stream to prevent flooding to the houses near the Atlasville Spruit.
“During the last phase, about three years ago, the landscape architect working on the project provided a comprehensive maintenance plan which was to be implemented every year to prevent the stream from becoming overgrown with reeds and pose a problem for future flooding to the surrounding houses.”
Du Plessis highlighted that since the reeds have become overgrown, they haven’t seen water birds or ducks.
“The main concern is the more the reeds grow in the river, the less the river will flow smooth, which will cause flooding.
“When there’s a lot of rain, the water level rises, which makes it difficult for the water to flow in the designated areas in the spruit.
“The reeds need to be cleared out in pockets so there’s a clear flow down the river. All the work done is basically wasted if the reeds are being neglected.”
He said he has had meetings with the relevant departments, and is still waiting for the desired action.
The Advertiser has requested comment from the metro.
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