River’s sewage input needs to be addressed

Toti Conservancy applauds the multi-pronged efforts being made to reclaim Toti River from water hyacinth.

“History has shown that wars are won by battles fought on many fronts and that, without these individual battles, there would be no eventual victory. The current battle being fought against the invasion of water hyacinth in the Toti River, and water lettuce in the Little Amanzimtoti River, is one that has been fought many times before,” said Toti Conservancy chairman, Laura Taylor.

“As we all know only too well, the ‘enemy’ is an extremely difficult one to kill, has never been completely vanquished, and has been greatly assisted by the input of sewage into the rivers from a multiplicity of sources.”

The conservancy applauds the work being undertaken by Khumbu Luthuli and Bongani Zama of the local natural resources division of Ethekwini Municipality, and others who successfully arranged for the employment of the Extended Public Works Programme team currently working in the river. This issue was discussed with natural resources as far back as February.

“Shaun Callaghan and his Army Saints, Jannie Venter of Oasis Waterworld and his men, Morne and Aileen Swanepoel and their group from the CombatCoaching.com gym, who undertook the daunting task of removing litter from the river, and many other unsung individuals, certainly deserve to be praised,” said Laura.

“We commend them all for their actions, and urge them to continue with their efforts.

However, the real battle cannot be considered won until all relevant authorities, both local and national, as well as the wider community, accept full responsibility for protecting the Toti and Little Amanzimtoti rivers.

“We need to always bear in mind as well, that as long as sewage input into the rivers remains a problem, so too will alien invasive vegetation.

Sewage input is a problem almost from the source of the river 30 kilometres upstream, and will need to be tackled holistically and not just in Toti itself.”

Toti Conservancy has begun a long and complex situation assessment and drafting process that will eventually lead to a formal river management plan for Toti River.

This draft plan must be submitted to and approved by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Affairs.

“It is necessary that we follow all legal requirements under the various Acts that govern our waterways, rivers and estuaries,” said Toti Conservancy deputy chairman, Rev Andrew Manning.

“An essential first step towards achieving our goal is to have the Toti River formally classified for recreational use.”

Committee members will attend the eThekwini Municipality’s workshop on river classification on Wednesday, 18 June.

“We will keep the community fully informed, as the final victory will be of immense benefit to us all.”