Efforts to clean Hennops River are underway
Tshwane workers cleaned the banks of the Hennops River as part of the sustainability month.
The horrid smell and filth of the Hennops River and lake in Centurion is receiving attention by the Tshwane metro, who has launched several initiatives to restore the precious wetland to its initial condition.
The metro has recently launched their initiative to clean the banks of the Hennops River and catchment area.
On Wednesday morning, the MMC for sport and recreation, Nozipho Tyobeka-Makeke visited Centurion Lake where workers were cleaning around the lake and river.
Selby Bokaba, the metro’s spokesperson, said as part of the sustainability month programme, the municipality has intensified its efforts to clean the Centurion Lake and Hennops River.
“The municipality scheduled a special clean-up operation for the lake to complement the day-to-day routine maintenance tasks carried out by the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees, namely removing litter, tree stumps and other debris along the Hennops River,” Bokaba said.
Over the past few months workers have been employed to clean the banks along the catchment area on a daily basis. This is one of the many effort that the metro has made to rehabilitate the river.
“It gladdens my heart, to witness an occasion that is focused on sustaining our environment,” Tyobeka-Makeke said.
According to the Tyobeka-Makeke R10 million has been set aside for other projects including silt and litter entrapments and chemicals to reduce the horrific smell caused by the polluted lake.
Among others the focus has been in raising awareness and the implementation of the ‘3 R’s’ of waste management, namely reduce, recycle and re-use. The metro sees this as an economic venture, because there is money in recycling, Tyobeka-Makeke said.
The Hennops River is a continuation of the Kaalspruit, which runs between Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg. As a river that crosses between the three metros in Gauteng it becomes polluted, because the province is the economic hub of the country and attracted influxes of people.
“The reason why litter lies and piles up at the Hennops River, is because the city is positioned downstream, so any dirt travels down to the river. Furthermore, the litter that is dumped on the ground finds its way to the river banks and stormwater channels,” Tyobeka-Makeke said.
The litter problems that affect the Hennops River, generally stemmed from surrounding areas such as Thembisa, Ivory Park and other places. Research teams have found that there is a need for better waste management techniques in and around the three metropolitan cities in the province.
“We see today’s event and your generous participation as the community, as a partnership to encourage other stakeholders to make a contribution to sustainable development of our environment. Let us continue to encourage the youth and increase their participation in the green economy initiatives and projects and in return, let us create for them the empowerment platforms and opportunities for their growth and long-term sustainability,” Tyobeka-Makeke said.
The Tshwane Green Outreach programme also has a sub-element of Tshwane Green Youth, as a way of broadening youth participation in the green economy or sustainability.
“I hope that as a community we will all benefit and be inspired by this one-of-a-kind initiative and take home a new energy, that prepares them be our country’s next big food producers, energy producers, waste management specialists and caretakers of our natural resources,” Tyobeka-Makeke concluded.
