The Jukskei River sorely needs cleaning up

A small group of Buccleuch residents and the rate-payers association members tackled the back-breaking task of attempting to tame the area surrounding Bridge Road of an over-accumulation of debris on World Clean-up Day.

The Jukskei River in Buccleuch needed more hands than the few who showed up, ready to tackle the upstream battle of attempting to clear the river of litter on September 16.

According to Buccleuch resident Lauren Nightingale, the river is also a resting place for a car which got swept in during a storm at the height of Covid-19.

“You know what, there’s so much we can do, and it starts with one person,” said Nightingale. “It just needs more effort.”

She said those tasked with managing roads, their municipalities and public well-being in Buccleuch have a titanic task ahead of them in reigning in the environmental damage suffered by the area over the years of debris accumulation.

“They need to do more litter traps further upstream; they need to clear out the tree trunks; they need to stop single-use plastics.
“They need to stop dumping sewage in the river – which we know happens on Frankenwald.”

The clearing of debris around Bridge Road was advertised as being an Alexandra Watter Warriors NPC initiative; however, the cavalry had yet to show face two hours into the clean-up operation.

Nine locals showed up on the banks of the Jukskei River. Among them was Mohamed Essop, who laments that people simply aren’t conscientiously reflecting on how harmful the effects of littering truly are to the environment. Essop disagrees with the short-term mindedness of those who sit by and ignore the state of the Jukskei River.

“I think it’s people not thinking on the future of the kids; they’re just thinking of now,” Essop said. “I think if there was more long-term thinking that we need to look after nature, we wouldn’t do this.”

Speaking to the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) about the way forward for managing the debris, spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said the area isn’t being overlooked.

“The Bridge Road low-lying bridge is in the final design stages,” Scheepers said, elaborating that work is specifically scheduled for the high-level drive bridge farther along the Jukskei River in Buccleuch. “We will be hosting a sod-turning event as part of the city’s transport-month activities in October; a contractor has been appointed, and public participation will be undertaken soon.”

Related article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/331248/the-bryanston-parkrun-cleanup/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/330979/first-of-many-rivonia-clean-ups/