Hennops Revival reaps fruits of hard work

Activists who are working on cleaning the Hennops River believe their hard work is paying off.

This as a litter catchment system installed by Hennops Revival in the Hennops River at Irene Club, Centurion, was doing “a great job”, according to the organisation.

“Our rains are late this year; we have not yet seen the worst of it, it is yet to come,” said Tarryn Johnston, founder of the NPO Hennops Revival.

“The litter trap is very effective; we keep it clean. We spend approximately three days a week cleaning the trap to make sure it remains functioning.”

Johnston said although less rubbish was being caught by the trap, which was very positive.

“We can see a huge difference between the past two years and now, which is evidence of the work we have been doing consistently.

“Some rubbish is caught underneath it, and some goes over it as the water swirls. There is, unfortunately, so much rubbish that we will need to install more traps as it is working well. We will, however, need funds to install more traps.”

Johnston explained that water levels have not yet risen too much, and the ground was still absorbing a lot of the water.

“It is when the ground is saturated and we get solid rain that flooding occurs. And then all the rubbish washes into the river.”

Johnston said she presented to the European River Summit an address on Friday where she showcased what Hennops Revival does.

She said the organisation has also just won the Biodiversity category in the recent Climate 360 competition.

She said her prize includes air tickets, accommodation, meals, transportation and visa costs for a trip to Belgium and France next year in February.

“A visit to EU headquarters to meet the Strategic Partnerships for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPIPA) team is on the agenda.

“That will include visits to climate action projects to learn from case studies in Belgium, and a visit to Paris, to the International Energy Agency.”

Johnston said the judging criteria, which weighted equally, was used for evaluating their initial submission:

– Climate impact: How has your project made an impact in addressing climate change and what is the potential impact it could make in the future?

– Innovation and creativity: How is your project innovative, and how have you brought new ideas and processes to fruition?

– Sustainability and results: How is your solution sustainable and what results have you achieved, concerning climate, people and business.

She said finalists were also judged on the quality of their presentation during the virtual conference.

Johnston said she was grateful that all the hard work was starting to pay off.

“We are starting to reap the fruits. What we are proud of, is that it is working, and bringing about the changes we want to see.”

Willem Snyman, a founder of the NGO, Fresh, which focuses on higher upstream of the Hennops River in the area of Kaalfontein, said “it is catastrophic when it rains as thousands and thousands of tons of rubbish gets into the river”.

“We have three litter traps just beneath Kaalfontein, and residents from Midstream help keep the traps clean.

“Large communities living in the area pose great challenges since their waste material do not get removed. It simply washes into the river.”

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