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‘Our Toti lagoon is dying’

Lagoon is the lifeblood of Amanzimtoti's birdlife

EDITOR – I am writing you today urging the powers-that-be to support a protective ordinance for the Amanzimtoti lagoon.

The lagoon is the lifeblood of Amanzimtoti’s birdlife and we all need to do everything in our power to protect it.

Legend holds that King Shaka named Amanzimtoti after drinking water from a river or stream in the area while on a raid down the South Coast of KZN. Shaka stopped to rest in the area and had his personal attendant collect water in a calabash from a nearby stream. After drinking the water King Shaka exclaimed ‘kanti amanz’amtoti’, which translated means ‘so, the water is sweet’.

What a shame to now foul Toti’s most diverse, species-rich estuary with green slime and harmful pollution. Signs of impending death abound – garbage and human waste are common, causing dangerous levels of fecal coliform bacteria. The smelly and toxic discharges emanating from the canal alongside the railway line into the lagoon continues to kill aquatic and birdlife, with no end in sight. Our fish are sick, our birds are dying. No-one seems to be in charge or responsible for its overall health or future. Our lagoon cannot be replaced like a disposable diaper or cleaned up with a good flushing.

This is an issue that has been brewing for a while and we need to act fast. Yes, it’s a huge deal. How bad do things have to get to galvanise someone into action?

We can save the lagoon.

At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
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