IN LIGHT of an ongoing battle with water the Rotary Club of Amanzimtoti held a community meeting at Amanzimtoti Country Club and Conservancy on March 20 to address the growing environmental degradation of the eZimbokodweni Estuary and river catchment. The event drew participation from the Rotary Club of Chatsworth, the local conservancy, environmental advocates and concerned residents.

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President of Rotary Amanzimtoti, Aneska Dupont, said that currently, water is the most significant challenge faced in KZN. She emphasised that reopening the eZimbokodweni Estuary is key, and said that the issue has persisted since the devastating April 2022 floods.

Mangosuthu University of Technology scientists, Professor Akash Anandraj and Trevor Govender, jointly addressed the session, outlining the environmental challenges affecting the estuary.

“Due to upstream dams constructed mainly for crop irrigation, the natural flow of the river has been significantly reduced. This disrupts the estuary’s ability to breach naturally, affecting its ecological function and preventing marine fish species from using it as a refuge and breeding ground. In addition, a large volume of waste, especially single use plastics, enters the river from informal settlements lacking proper waste management. Debris accumulates in the estuary harming biodiversity. The unchecked spread of invasive plants out-competes native species, further degrading the estuarine ecosystem,” said Govender.

He added that the evidence of chemical pollutants in the river was also noted, however, this requires urgent investigation.

Among the recommendations made by the scientists were the installation of simple river booms upstream to trap floating plastic waste, and the convening of a broader stakeholder meeting that would include farmers, industries and landowners based upstream.

Govender said the meeting served as a critical step toward mobilising community energy.

“Follow-up actions are expected to include technical assessments, stakeholder consultations, and public awareness campaigns aimed at protecting and rehabilitating the estuary. Residents and organisations interested in contributing to the initiative are encouraged to get involved as the planning process moves forward,” said Govender.

What is an estuary?

An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries and the land surrounding them are a transition between land and sea. They are of great importance to the world’s oceanic ecosystem as breeding areas for marine species including crustaceans, molluscs and fish. They are among the most degraded habitat types on earth, with few estuaries in temperate and tropical regions existing in a near pristine state.

The eZimbokodweni Estuary is located south of Isipingo Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. This estuary system is classified as a temporarily open / closed estuary (TOCE), a common estuary type along South Africa’s coastline. TOCEs naturally alternate between open and closed states, primarily influenced by river flow, sediment dynamics, and oceanographic forces such as tides and wave action.

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