Dirty Jozi spruit to get makeover
BRAAMFONTEIN SPRUIT: DEGRADATION TAKES ITS TOLL
The city’s biggest green lung needs restoration for recreation to bloom again.
The mighty 1 600km-long Limpopo River, which flows from South Africa into the ocean in Mozambique, has a tributary right here in Johannesburg in the often humble, sometimes raging, usually polluted, never drinkable Braamfontein Spruit.
But the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) says it is going to look at how best to change the negatives. There are plenty of positives about the more than 30km stretch of river as it ambles its way towards the Magaliesberg.
It’s the city’s biggest green lung, serving as a recreation spot to many mountain bikers, horse riders, dog walkers and the like.
However, when the traditionally terrifying Highveld storms break and lash Johannesburg with fury and rain, all that water has to go somewhere.
And it’s into stormwater drains – clogged with refuse, waste, oil, grey water, and all manner of detritus – it flows, some of which is directed into the spruit, which transforms it into a raging maelstrom of rubbish, mud and water.
It is that raging maelstrom JRA hopes to tame with the launch of a study to look into how to best make it all functional again.
JRA acting managing director Mpho Kau said in a statement this week that the City of Joburg was concerned about the environmental degradation along the spruit and the implications for safety and public health.
“Rapid urbanisation close to the banks has had a choking effect on the river, depriving it of its natural flow path and reducing its capacity,” Kau said.
“This often results in the spruit overflowing its banks after heavy downpours, causing damage to properties and safety hazards for people who are using roads and low-lying bridges in the vicinity.
“The study will, no doubt, lead to far-reaching recommendations and actions by the JRA to restore the habitat and the measures required to combat future erosion and degradation,” said Kau.
The spruit originates in Parktown, eventually joining the Jukskei River, which is a tributary of the Limpopo River system. It passes through Greenside, Hurlingham, Sandton and Paulshof and forms part of an important catchment area in the city.
The JRA said when the study was completed, there would be public consultation before the rehabilitation process can begin. –