The Hennops River in Centurion is now a dumping ground for waste washed downstream, with parts of the river littered with debris after the first spring rains.

Residents have become accustomed to a cycle of waste building up, clean-up operations taking place, and rubbish returning soon after.

The Tshwane Metro said much of the waste entering the river originates upstream, outside its jurisdiction, particularly from the Kaalspruit catchment in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city was aware of the river’s condition and continued removing waste reaching its area.

Debris traps have been installed 300 metres downstream of the confluence of the Olifants Spruit and Sesmylspruit, where the Hennops River begins, to reduce the amount of waste entering the waterway and limit the impact downstream.

Mashigo said the traps could capture about 70% of incoming debris, although lightweight materials such as polystyrene remained difficult to contain.

“The city continues to remove waste captured by the infrastructure, bagging it and transporting it to a licensed landfill site.”

However, Mashigo said waste continued flowing downstream, particularly during the rainy season, when material accumulated at illegal dumping sites in the Kaalspruit catchment was washed into the river.

He said the waste currently visible was typical after the first spring rains, following months of accumulation during the dry winter period.

The pollution is also subject to a court order requiring Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni municipalities to address pollution in the Kaalspruit catchment.

On June 8, a judgment established an intergovernmental task team, led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, to develop and fund rehabilitation measures.

Mashigo said the metro remained optimistic that the co-ordinated approach would improve conditions.

“The establishment of the intergovernmental task team is an important step towards co-ordinated planning, implementation and funding of rehabilitation measures across the affected municipalities,” he said.

“Monitoring points near the Ekurhuleni border on the Olifants Spruit and Sesmylspruit have recorded heavily polluted water,” said Mashigo, linking the pollution to wastewater discharges, pressure on sewer infrastructure and sanitation problems.

The metro will continue maintaining debris traps, removing waste, desilting Centurion Lake and managing the river system while it develops longer-term rehabilitation plans.

City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said it was also aware of pollution challenges across the Kaalspruit catchment.

He attributed pollution to illegal dumping, builders’ rubble, buried sewer infrastructure, misuse of sewer systems and illegal sand mining.

“The city monitors water quality every month, and results indicate the elevated microbial load as well as nutrients like phosphate and nitrates.”

The Johannesburg metro has responded with illegal-dumping clearances, sewer maintenance and informal-settlement interventions, while the intergovernmental task team has begun independent sampling to better characterise pollution.

Rekord approached the City of Ekurhuleni for comment but did not get feedback by the time of publication.

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