Dirty Buffalo river ‘won’t spoil regatta’
BCM blames vandalism upstream for ongoing sewage headache
East London fishermen and swimmers have expressed concerns over the safety of the water in several city rivers, saying it is a threat to human, animal and plant life.
This week, Whatsapp groups of East London fishermen have been flooded with complaints about smelly water in the Buffalo river, with some saying they had spotted a “green grease” on the surface.
Gonubie beach was closed for weeks recently due to two sewage spills.
A large manhole hidden in the undergrowth and a second on a raised embankment along the river have been oozing chunky grey effluent into the sand.
The most recent concerns about the Buffalo come as the city hosts the historic Buffalo Regatta, from Thursday to Saturday, a signature event on the SA rowing calendar.
Organisers and some participants allayed fears, saying the necessary checks had been completed by the Buffalo City Metro.
Organiser Jacques Bochner said river pollution was a countrywide issue and not unique to East London.
“Ordinarily, what we have done is when there is a lot of rain, we spend time with the Buffalo City maintenance [crew] and take water samples that get tested, but in the past two weeks we haven’t had any heavy rain,” Bochner said.
“And when we receive those results, we send them to [Rowing SA] to let them know what the water our event will take place in is like.
“Two weeks ago, we had meeting with Nosisa Rubushe of BCM, and we indicated to her that ongoing testing is critical, and they must check the Buffalo River for litter or any sewage problems. They have indicated that everything is fine.”
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said a big challenge with the river was the “constant vandalism of our infrastructure, as it is now the case at the Second Creek sewage pump station”.
“This station, which services areas like Buffalo Flats, processes huge volumes and unfortunately it was vandalised, with bulk electricity supply removed.
“We have commenced the process of acquiring equipment and restoration of bulk water supply. However, this overlaps the event start period before we get the station pumping again.
“Our scientific services department has been taking samples at the river for testing every day.”
Ngwenya said the last sample batch was taken at 11am on Wednesday and the results would be available on Thursday morning to enable the Buffalo Regatta organisers to make an informed decision.
“This matter is highly regrettable and the concerns are genuine. We can assure the public that we have attached experts to solve this and we are working around the clock to fix the issues and allay fears.”
Rowing official Roger Parsons, who is part of the Buffalo Regatta event, said: “We have Mdantsane and Duncan Village up the Buffalo River, whose litter contributes to the pollution of this river.
“This river is in a really bad state. I really understand the concerns of fishermen.
“My advice to participants of the regatta is they need to wash properly when they get off the water because of potential infection.
“When you cut your finger in this river, you need to clean [the wound] to get all the germs out.
“This has been going on for years. None of this is new.”
East London Museum principal scientist Kevin Cole said there had been no real improvement in the quality of the river’s water since 2013.
“If anything, the pollution has increased over the past decade and a half.
“Regatta participants are advised to undertake the event with caution,” Cole said.
Buffalo City Fishermen Forum chair Lincoln Daniels agreed, saying pollution of the Buffalo River had been happening for years.
“We have not encountered any dead fish at the moment but some fish have had a bad smell since last week, which is a concern for consumption.”
Open ocean swimmers encountered the stench of sewage in the Buffalo River mouth on Tuesday, to the extent they abandoned their swim route, left the deeper waters and swam in shallow water off Orient Beach, leading East London open ocean swimmer Joy Roach said.
“We hit the current flowing out of the river in deeper water as we headed to our turning point in line with the Wimpy.
“It was as if someone had opened the lid of a sewer. It was disgusting.
“This is making it difficult to swim off the Orient. We have to avoid the outgoing tide and also when it rains.
“The authorities need to do something to save our beaches, our rivers and our entire estuarine and marine ecosystem.”
John Barry of Southern Cross Cruises said: “The water at the river had been clean. I saw the officials taking samples.
“But all of a sudden, in the past two days [Monday and Tuesday] we have noticed that the water has changed its colour.
“I really don’t know what caused the discolouration.”
Meanwhile, Gonubie Ward 29 councillor Val Knoetze said Gonubie beach was opened on Wednesday morning but closed again by the afternoon because a pump station a few hundred metres upriver from the Gonubie River mouth had leaked again during load-shedding.