Many hands make the Cascades clean
A group of professionals cleaned up the litter in the Lowveld Botanical Garden last weekend.
MBOMBELA – After Lowvelder reported on the state of the garden in the first week of May, Bossies Community Justice (BCJ), Off Road Rescue Unit (ORRU), Hanging By a Thread (HBT) rope access, disaster management and the White River Police Diving Unit decided to join and clear the trash on Saturday.
Much of the waste accumulated at the Cascades.
This spot is popular with tourists and attracts hordes of people when the Crocodile River is full or in flood.
The sight of the water cascading down is breathtaking. Getting to the bottom of the waterfalls, where much of the litter gets trapped in whirlpools in massive potholes and the more placid areas in-between, takes the skills of a trained abseiler and rescue swimmer.
The curator, Taki Mamatsharaga, explained that it was not quite as simple as sending a clean-up crew, and the waste did not originate in the garden.
“The litter comes from outside, upstream, and accumulates in the water here. It is a very dangerous place to go. We are not heartless, and we will not be asking our groundsmen to risk their lives. Whenever it is safe, we do send our people in to retrieve as much trash as they can, but we do not expect them to do it when they can slip and fall.”
The groups decided to join forces in an effort to alleviate the burden, as each had a form of expertise to contribute.
HBT rope access offered its assistance by providing ropes and safeguarding the routes down.
The diving unit provided guidance along the water, and took the plunge by entering it, despite the chilly weather. ORRU, the disaster management and BCJ took the opportunity to scale the rocks and practise their abseiling skills into the depths among the rocks.
In the end, they collected 138 full bags of rubbish.
“Some of the areas were so heavily littered, that the grass started to grow over the trash floating in the water,” said Albert Gryvenstein from BCJ.
Mamatsharaga was overwhelmed with gratitude, and thanked the group for their combined efforts. “Thank you all so much. We really could not have done this without you.”
