Volunteers pull more than half a tonne of rubbish from Melville stream
From discarded clothing to electronic waste, volunteers uncovered the scale of pollution in a short stretch of the Westdene Spruit during a community clean-up.
More than half a tonne of rubbish was pulled from a 200m stretch of the Westdene Spruit in just two and a half hours, highlighting the scale of pollution facing one of the city’s natural waterways.
Around 30 volunteers, including Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo representatives, joined a clean-up on October 3, removing 612kg of waste from the stream, which runs through Melville Koppies.
Among the rubbish were discarded clothes, food packaging, polystyrene containers and even electronic waste such as television screens and computers.
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Tam Scheidegger, a conservation volunteer at Melville Koppies, said much of the litter enters the waterway through storm water drains, often after being dropped on roads or swept into drains by residents.
“People actually sweep them into the hole in the side of the road, because where does that go? It just goes away. And where does it go away? It goes into the river,” she said.
Also read: Community takes action to clean up illegal dumping in Sophiatown
For Scheidegger, however, the clean-up is about more than removing rubbish; it is about reclaiming an open space where people can feel safe, spend time outdoors and reconnect with nature.
She has already seen the difference repeated clean-ups can make. A section of the stream targeted in five clean-ups this year is now looking noticeably better, with school groups also carrying out water tests and learning about the environment — but restoring the spruit will take time.
Scheidegger sees the work as a five-year plan, with a vision of children and families returning to the waterway to explore its natural life. “I want to be able to see moms coming down with their children, and I want to see them playing in the river and looking for insects, trying to catch tadpoles with their little net,” she said.
She believes that future depends on the community taking ownership of the space and continuing to use it. “Use it or lose it,” she said. “If you don’t use it, you will lose it – and this is a space we should never lose.”
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