This year, stakeholders gathered citizens of the Khayalethu community to roll up their sleeves and pick up litter from the Bongani and Khayalethu rivers.
This significance of this action is to ensure that ultimately less land-based pollution ends up in the Knysna Estuary. The Bongani River is part of a catchment which flows into the Knysna Estuary through dense rural and urban areas. It can be traced from the Northern areas of Khayalethu and Bongani, then through the industrial area and enters the estuary at the Ashmead channel. The Khayalethu River is one of the tributaries that connects with the Bongani River. According to the Knysna Municipality’s environmental division, "nearly everything that can be found on land eventually makes its way to a stream or river. This is because most of the Knysna area forms part of a river catchment."
Sections of these two rivers are cleaned on a weekly basis by 30 local women as part of the River Health Programme initiated by the Knysna Municipality. Although this contributes to minimising the amount of waste in the catchment, it is still important to raise environmental awareness in the communities and to change attitudes towards the use of the river. This programme formed a platform for Marine Week campaigning for clean river catchments and a healthy estuary.
Although authorities are still counting bags from the mass clean- up, Melaney Barrath, people and conservation officer for the Knysna section of the Garden Route National Park, says she is certain this year’s count will be far less than previous years.
The mass clean- up was initiated by the Knysna Municipality and SANParks. By helping clean the river, communities living along the rivers can get more involved and help spread the message.
This same message was relayed to more citizens through a Dive for Debris on Saturday, October 11 when divers collected as much litter as they could from the estuary and the Paquita wreck.
A mass clean- up at the Bongani River was initiated by the Knysna Municipality and SANParks. Photo: SANParks.
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