Plastic clogging river in Tongaat hampers rescue efforts of girl washed away by floods

Rescue workers faced a deluge of plastic in the Mazibuko River as they worked to recover the body of a six-year-old girl swept away by floods in Tongaat last week, reports North Coast Courier.

The thick layer of plastic pollution washed into the river by the floodwaters hindered rescue efforts as teams attempted to wade through the massive volume of plastic and other debris.

According to reports, the missing girl, Nokubonga Ngidi, was trying to cross the river in Gwaveni, in an attempt to reach a tuck shop when she was swept away.

The river which runs between the informal settlements had widened significantly from the rain last week.

Rescue teams used social media to appeal to the community for nets to help clear the large volume of debris.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) team leader, Nazir Sadack, said there were thousands of plastic bottles, debris and waste that had floated from upstream clogging up the river, creating challenging conditions for rescue teams.

“On Saturday we tried to clear part of the debris but due to the scale of the pollution, we did not have much success. I contacted the two councillors from the area, Geoff Pullan and Yogis Govender, who managed to get Durban Solid Waste (DSW) to come out and assist with the clean-up operation,” said Sadack.

The four-day search ended at about 11am on Sunday when Ngidi’s body was finally recovered.

While the loss of life and damage to homes during the recent inclement weather has highlighted the housing plights of many, the issue of water pollution has also been brought to the fore.

Sadack said the community realised the impact the litter had on the search operation and was hopeful this would serve as a wake-up call for the community to start taking care of their litter.

Nhlanhla Sibisi from Green Peace Africa, who has been campaigning on plastics in South Africa since 2018, said plastic was carried by floodwaters from wherever users decided to discard it. However, Sibisi also highlighted the complexity of the problem.

“We need to address not only our behaviour, but the lack of will, systems, and strategies for solving the plastic problem. What we have seen is a pattern of mass production of mainly single-use plastics, a lack of recycling practices and businesses and government allowing the plastic monster to run amok. It is worth reminding ourselves that, just because plastic is recyclable, it does not guarantee that it will be recycled.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.