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The Gauteng Provincial Office of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), and various stakeholders today, 18 July 2019, celebrated the birth of former President Nelson Mandela by working to restore the quality of the Hennops River in Centurion to its pristine state.

The clean-up, known as the Clear Rivers Campaign, is the brainchild of the Department which aims to involve all like-minded communities, businesses, civil society organisations and individuals to clean-up rivers, streams and wetlands to pay tribute to former President Nelson Mandela.

Some of the participants gave their 67 minutes to clean-up the river are the Department of Environmental Affairs, Exxaro, Strategic Water Partners Network, Hennops Blue Horizon, Plastic SA, Fresh NGO, Aquaevida, Ricoffy and the South African Young Water Professionals

DWS’s Gauteng Provincial, Mr Sibusiso Mthembu, said the importance of the Clear Rivers Campaign is the spread awareness around taking care of rivers by ensuring that the water quality of the rivers is good and that communities that live along the rivers take care of the these resources.

“The pollution of rivvers is increasing and that affects the cost of treating the water. We abstract water from rivers, clean it and reticulate it to households. So, the cost of cleaning escalates as a result of the pollution that we see in our rivers,” said Mr Mthembu.

He added that it is vital for every individual to take care of rivers and avoid littering because littering ends up in the rivers, affecting the water quality and the animals.

Mr Mthembu said the Department is ensuring the pollution that finds its way into the river systems is stopped to ensure that water quality is improved.

Senior Specialist Hydrology at Exxaro, Charles Linstrom, said purpose of the clean-up is to raise awareness around the Honnops River and to alert people who drive next to the river to realise its condition.

He said: “We therefore use the Mandela Day initiative to create awareness and also clean the river because the rivers are basically the lifeline of everything, including plants, animals and human beings.

He added that they recognise the importance rivers play in the economy and social upliftment because the country can only get economic growth if there is sufficient clean water.

Mr Jacques Lightfoot from Plastic SA, expressed excitement that his organisation is partnering with other government departments and other organisations to clean the Hennops River, saying the Mandela Day and other environmental days brought different stakeholders together to make a difference in the quality of the country’s rivers.

He said as industry they are trying hard to make sure plastic waste does not end up in the rivers.

“This activity today is fantastic because it brings people together and to sensitise them about how important is not to litter because the material can be recycled to new products,” he said.

Issued by the Department of Water & Sanitation