Wonderboompoort waterfall restoration planned for April

Water could once again be flowing from the Wonderboompoort waterfall by April if the team working toward its restoration had its way, organiser of the restoration project Xander Loubser said.

“Our revisited goal is to have this project done in the next three months at the very latest,” he said.

“I don’t want to see the waterfall not running by mid-year so hopefully in the next three months, we will achieve our goal and complete the remainder of the tasks.

“We had a goal of having the waterfall up and running by December 2021. Unfortunately, due to financial and time constraints, we could not,” he said.

Loubser explained that a substantial amount of money was also used for the annual Christmas community project they held in some of the suburbs in the Moot.

During the duration of the project, community members rallied together and drove around the suburbs while other community members dressed up as Father Christmas and handed out kiddies packs with the assistance of children who dressed up as elves.

“It’s a Christmas project so December is the only month for such festivities and it is a big priority for the Pretoria community,” he said.

The execution of last year’s project was said to have cost organisers more than R300 0000.

“That took priority over the waterfall project,” Loubser said.

Despite the delay in the restoration of the waterfall, he said progress had been made.

Loubser said they had thus far fixed the waterfall pump at a cost of R41 000 and got a sponsor for ready mix concrete to fix the collection dam at the mouth of the dam.

A mini-substation was also said to have been placed onsite. Concrete barricades for security still needed to be erected.

Another thing Loubser said they needed at the site was security.

While the group of organisers behind the restoration of the waterfall had attempted to source funding to assist them, they were paying for it from their own pockets.

“We did attempt to ask for business and social media users to assist us, but we did not get to more than R3 000,” Loubser said.

As a result, the restoration project was being privately funded.

“Myself, as the organiser, and some members of the committee are sponsoring the restoration project from our own pockets,” he said.

The committee behind the restoration project would also be behind ensuring the waterfall’s sustainability.

Loubser further said they were looking to refrain from utilising municipal water as a source to prevent the water supply from being cut off if and/or when water restrictions were implemented.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said while they were “always” open to supporting communities in the restoration of particular sites, they did not have any funds allocated toward the project.

“The city is always open to supporting communities in the restoration of particular sites. However, there is no budget set aside to support this project,” he said.

Mashigo said that they were also open to engaging with the community about their vision for the waterfall.

“With water restrictions being implemented, the metro is inclined to manage water sources in the most efficient manner,” he said.

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