‘Don’t wait for city to resolve our river’s state’
"The Toti River belongs to us, the community and we can't just sit back and wait for the authorities to step up and resolve the issues surrounding it."
Those are the words of Toti Conservancy chairman, Laura Taylor after it hosted a public meeting at Lords and Legends on Monday, 10 February to address the ongoing problems of waste water and river pollution.
The well-attended gathering was addressed by Chris Fennemore and Noelene Chellan of the Ethekwini Pollution Control Department. They explained the role of their Department in addressing pollution and water quality issues throughout the city. They also highlighted the rivers quality monitoring programme that they undertake on all the rivers throughout the city.
As a result of the severe sewerage problems which occurred in Amanzimtoti last year, a liaison committee has been established between interested and affected parties and the Ethekwini Water and Sanitation Department. This committee is chaired and led by the deputy head of the department, Lawrence Davies.
“Toti Conservancy is part of this liaison committee and is representing the interests of the community in this regard. We will continue to inform the public of developments in regard to the upgrading of sewerage infrastructure in Amanzimtoti,” said Laura.
In particular the water quality of the Amanzimoti and Little Amanzimoti rivers was addressed at the meeting. Monthly tests are done at various sampling points and scores are allocated. “In most cases are rivers fall into the category of critical, which is clearly unacceptable.
It was clear from the audience that the most important issues relating to the environment and pollution are the ongoing sewerage problems in Amanzimoti as well as the condition of the Amanzimtoti River. It is felt that the state of our river is in a deplorable condition.”
Currently the Toti River is barely visible due to the layer of water hyacinth covering the surface.
In addition the weir that was constructed at the mouth many years ago is still causing ongoing problems relating to a lack of tidal exchange in the river.
“There is also considerable silting occurring in the river,” said Laura. “As a result the river is becoming increasingly shallow and increasingly narrow, with large amounts of alien vegetation invading the river banks and exascerbating the situation. What used to be a beautiful, relatively wide and deep river, which easily allowed boating and canoeing, is now a shadow of its former self.
What we want to achieve is a river that can be used again for recreational purposes. This is also extremely important for tourism in Toti. In order to achieve this we, the community of Toti, need to take ownership of our river and of the process towards its rehabilitation. While we can point many fingers at the authorities for derogation of duty in relation to our rivers and sewerage problems in Toti, it must not stop there.
We need to work in partnership with the authorities to turn the situation around.”
Toti Conservancy challenged those present to put their time where their mouths are and to get involved in its activities. To get involved, the public is invited to the conservancy’s next ‘projects report back meeting’, which will take place at Lords and Legends on Monday, 10 March. Each project leader will give a report back on their activities and people will be invited to join the various projects.
“Chris Fennemore has undertaken to take up various issues for the community with the relevant departments,” said Laura.
“Anyone who has sewerage complaint issues in our local area is welcome to email toticonservancy@connect.co.za.”
