An opportunity to raise funds for the Zwartkops Conservancy was flushed down the drain when levels of sewage in the water made it impossible for the annual Family Paddle, all set for tomorrow, to take place.
Proceeds from the event, hosted by the non-governmental organisation, go towards maintaining the cleanliness of the Swartkops River.
Funds are also used for the weekly educational ecology classes for children fromthe surrounding areas.
E.coli levels in the river are at an unacceptable level.
Earlier this week a sewage spill – the result of broken pipes in the area – at the Brickfields pre-treatment plant had to be redirected into the Motherwell stormwater canal.
This in turn led to sewage flooding into the river.
A member of both the Bluewater Canoe Club and Zwartkops Conservancy, Louis Beyers, who helped organise the event, said he feared it might never be held again because of the rate sewage was being spewed into the river.
“The event is hosted by the club for the Zwartkops Conservancy. The money is used [towards] costs of collecting four unemployed litter pickers who work along the river bank, running costs to keep the river clean, and the biggest expense of fuel,” he said.
“The money also goes towards running the educational classes held at the river where children are [taught about] its ecology and the importance of keeping the river clean.
“On Sunday last week there was a large amount of gunge floating on the surface at Motherwell and Markman canal,” Beyers said.
“When the tide changes, there is a continual movement of sewage or gunge on the river.”Zwartkops Conservancy environmental officer Jenny Rump said she had been reporting the dilapidated sewerage pipes to the municipality since 2010, to no avail.
According to Rump, the pipes have broken 13 times in 2015 and 16 times in 2016 along the same pipeline.
Despite working in the area, she said she had last received reports from the municipality of the levels of sewage in the water in January.
A report that Rump received last August showed the E.coli levels in the river were a shocking 198 600/100 ml – which is 662 times the acceptable amount.
She said: “We have said to the metro, there is something wrong with the pipes.
“They are cheap pipes, made of fibreglass, and the contractors did not lay them properly.
“The metro must put in a new line as more breaks keep on happening. “It’s terrible,” she said. “What is happening has terrible implications.
“The implications are that the fish eat prawns that have been contaminated.
“The bacteria are absorbed into their tissue, humans eat that, and we get sick.”
Mayoral spokesman Sibongile Dimbaza said: “The contamination at the Swartkops River is a matter of concern for the city and it is receiving our attention.
“The redress needs a multipronged approach where, while dealing with eliminating the contamination, a parallel exercise is also implemented to nab the culprits who contribute to this problem,” he said.
He was unable to supply figures for the current E.coli levels in the river.