(Supplied)
Thousands of dead fish popped up in the Isipingo Lagoon, south of Durban, which prompted eThekwini metro to close off the lagoon when it was suspected the water was contaminated with sewage, the result of a faulty pump.
A cleanup operation is underway, as is an investigation into what caused the contamination.
“The city continues to remove dead fish at Isipingo Beach Lagoon and the rehabilitation of the lagoon to restore the environment to its natural state is in progress,” said Lindiwe Mazibuko, spokesperson for the eThekwini municipality.
Exactly how long the cleanup will last depends on how long it will take for the water quality to improve.
“The rehabilitation includes the aeration of the lagoon, which is a process that aims to
increase dissolved oxygen levels to protect aquatic life. This process will continue for the
next weeks under stringent monitoring until water quality at the estuary is confirmed
conducive,” said Mazibuko.
She confirmed that the dead fish were disposed of at the city’s Springfield landfill site.
Desmond D’Sa, of the South Durban Community Environment Alliance, said several nearby beaches have also been affected by the spillage, which has had a dire effect on the hundreds of fishermen in the area who rely on daily catches for a livelihood.
Not good enough
He said the situation has been exacerbated by the cleanup operation only being at “surface level”.
“[T]hey have not got to the fish at the bottom of the lagoon yet and they seem to not have enough equipment [to do so]. Fish rotting at the bottom of the lagoon is not good for the ecosystem and people that are in close proximity to the lagoon.”
He said the problem extended beyond the dead fish, because people who depended on the sea for food and a living had been severely affected.
“People who fish for a living take food home and put it on the table for their families and that has been cut. The government has not come to the rescue of these fishermen. Even during Covid, there was no assistance in the form of food hampers, which forced some families to go to bed with no food to eat.”
John Peter, a fisherman who is also a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fisher Forum, said the situation was worsening.
“The municipality has prohibited people from sourcing fish from the water, essentially cutting off their source of income. When the beach is closed because of negligence on the part of the government, fisherfolk don’t get compensated, nobody compensates us and that makes things worse for us,” he said.
Those reliant on fishing for food and income now have to travel further to find a catch, placing an additional financial burden on residents of a working class area with high levels of unemployment.
“We would spend R30 to travel to the sea to fish but, with the contamination, we spend around R70 and that becomes a problem if you don’t catch any fish,” said Peter.
D’Sa is concerned about people collecting dead fish to eat and said this was why a swift and thorough cleanup should be a priority for the municipality.
Peter agreed: “There is a high volume of fisherfolks in the Isipingo area. Some have ancestors who have been part of the community. Apart from fishermen, there are traditional healers who come to the lagoon to offer prayers, others get baptised and some just stand on the shoreline to give offerings to the sea, so you can tell that the morale in the community is very low.”
Residents expressed shock at what they saw but said it was not the first time the water in the area had been contaminated.
This has happened before
In 2014, people were urged to stop swimming, drinking and using water in the Isipingo area because of sewage spills from damaged pipes.
Last year, people were prohibited from fishing and tourism shut down for months after the water was polluted by pesticides, according to D’Sa
Another fisherman, Logan Govender, said the sewage contamination was “inevitable” because of the city’s poor maintenance of infrastructure.
The ANC-run city’s under-investment in infrastructure, as noted by the auditor general, and neglect of the same was exacerbated by the heavy flooding in April, which caused more than R25-billion worth of damage in KwaZulu-Natal, according to the provincial government, with eThekwini bearing the brunt of it.
Several rivers burst their banks as a result of the four days of consistent downpour and more than 400 residents died in mudslides, drownings and collapsed dwellings.
A business sector briefing in April showed that just under 2 000 businesses in reclaimed land, which falls in the city’s 100-year floodplain, had been affected by the floods.
“It is unacceptable that they have left the pumps in this condition since April. Now, sewage has been dumped into the lagoon and the water is absolutely black. That’s totally unacceptable,” said Govender.
The water infrastructure problems in KwaZulu-Natal have been an issue for some time, with sewage making its way to bodies of fresh water. As the Mail & Guardian has previously reported, more than 40% of the water infrastructure in the province needs urgent maintenance.
Mazibuko said, “The city’s infrastructure is being repaired and maintained on an ongoing basis, but events like the recent floods and chronic vandalism make it difficult to always have critical equipment online, with the resulting impact on the environment.”
When parts of the sewer pump are damaged, the waste is discharged to storm drains and ultimately makes its way to the sea.
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