UPDATE: Centurion lake plans forge ahead

Plans to rehabilitate Centurion Lake have not stalled, but instead will take time to ensure correct procedures are followed.

This was according to the Tshwane metro, which earlier this year committed R28.6-million to the first phase of the Hennops river’s restoration.

“The lake is part of this broader process,” said metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.

“But the lake, as it once existed as a waterfront, will not be resuscitated.

“Instead, the aim of the rehabilitation process is not to restore the waterfront, but rather to restore the river to its natural flow as far as humanly possible,” he said.

“This will mean silt and litter traps upstream to enable the sustained flow of the river.”

This would, however, not be an immediate quick fix and would take several years, according to the metro.

“To ensure that the allocated budget is well spent and not just another dredging exercise, we are first appointing consultants who will review existing proposals and designs.

“These consultants will advise the metro on the most economical, efficient and environmentally sensitive way of going about this sensitive process,” Mashigo said.

READ MORE: UPDATE: R28.6-million for decisive action on Centurion lake – mayor

Any physical work would only begin once all interested and affected parties were satisfied.

“One will only see physical activity in the third or fourth quarter of the financial year.

“A large part of the solution is informed by intergovernmental relations, particularly with the cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni,”

Mashigo said.

This as much of the debris and contamination flows from these municipalities into Tshwane.

READ MORE: VIDEO: Need for bird sanctuary at Centurion lake, councillor

“We are mindful of activities by Fresh.ngo and believe that positive action and active citizenry is the right approach and we embrace this activism.”

The metro was also appreciative of the efforts by the Capital City Business Chamber in co-ordinating roleplayers to address the general wellbeing of the Centurion CBD.

Mashigo said much of the work to restore the river was institutional in nature as the metro did not have a specific department to address such niche problems and projects.

“We have thus established a task team consisting of representatives from the different departments based on their skills and expertise,” he said.

“We are taking care not to spend the budgeted R28.6-million just for the sake of it but to be sure that, when we implement the solution, it is indeed the correct one and long-lasting in nature,” Mashigo said.

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