Residents urge city to clear reeking reeds that are bad for health
BLOUBERG residents are up in arms about a nearby wetland, claiming reeds that grow there create a foul smell, while their seeds are causing health problems.
The wetland borders the Dolphin Beach Hotel and the Waves Edge residential area and every year in February to April the seeds disperse, blowing on to people’s properties.
Resident Pierre Daneels said the seeds gave off a white powder that clung to glass, clogged swimming pools and were a health risk – especially for people with respiratory problems.
He said that a few years ago, the city used to take out the reeds, but it hadn’t done this in a while, and residents were seeing a decline in bird species around the wetland, while the smell was getting worse. One of the residents had brought in a team to remove the reeds, but he could not afford to do so any more.
The city had promised to bring in a team at the beginning of the month, but had not done so yet, Daneels said.
Bongani Mnisi, regional manager of the City of Cape Town’s biodiversity management section, said a team of 20 people had been appointed to work in the area, but because the city could offer only R80 a day, and no transport or food, some of these people had left.
Another issue was that they could not begin working without equipment, and the equipment had not been delivered yet.
Mnisi said although the reeds, Typha capensis, were an indigenous wetland species, they had the potential to become invasive.
He said that the city was aware of the “social and health” risk created by the reeds and, as more funding became available, it would be able to tackle the problem better.
Ward councillor Heather Brenner said that in 2010 she recommended an investigation into the management plan for the control of Typha capensis.
“I have seen blankets of seeds covering pools, washing hanging on lines like bearskins and ‘fluff ’ everywhere in homes and vehicles and I am aware of the suffering of people with respiratory problems.”
Brenner said she had been working with Mnisi to have the reeds removed, and had obtained R79 000 from a special fund for reed-clearing projects. But the funds had been released only after this year’s seed dispersal had begun.