Thanks to the generous donations of the wider Johannesburg community, nets can now be floated to help with the hyacinth problem at Hartebeespoort Dam.
The community came together to collect bottles to make a net to clear the water hyacinth infestation, without the use of poisons.
Two four-tonne Caxton trucks were filled to the brim with approximately 12 000 bottles that had been donated by the community.
The bottles were then delivered to the Hartbeespoort Dam Rehabilitation Steering Committee on Monday.
Rudi Joles of the HRSC praised the community’s efforts saying, “The Hartbeespoort Rehabilitation Steering Committee and the residents of the greater Hartbeespoort applaud the efforts of the Randburg community backed by [Caxton Newspapers] in collecting an excess of 12 000 empty 2-litre bottles.
“To date, this community-driven project has successfully removed in excess of 140 hectares of hyacinths off the dam, which calculates to 50 per cent of the hyacinths initially present at the start of the project in April 2017.”
A massive green container that had been placed at the entry-way to the site to contain donated bottles was filled to its capacity after Caxton volunteers unloaded the bottles.
Bottles have been donated as far and wide as the East and West Rand, and this collective effort from the Johannesburg community is going to make sure that the environment of the dam is protected.
Various schools in the Randburg area donated over 3 000 bottles for the effort alone, and a special word of thanks goes out to them for the amazing job they have done to drive support for this effort.
The 2-litre bottles are needed as flotation for a net to contain water hyacinth growing in the dam which absorbs all the oxygen, killing the natural plant and marine life in the body of water.
The bottles will be used to make buoyant nets, which will be used to trap the hyacinths where specialised removal equipment will then clear the areas systematically.
Joles commented, “The involvement of the greater Randburg community shows that active citizenship is alive and well.
“We invite these members of society to further their actions by please making a financial contribution no matter how big or how small, to the cause in order for us to be able to conclude the project before the end of 2017.”
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For more information on where you can get involved, and for banking details, visit Hartbeespoort Dam Rehabilitation Steering Committee’s page on Facebook, and more details can be found at www.hrsc.org.za or www.hartiesfoundation.org.za
