Volunteers steer revival of polluted Jukskei River

Local activists, artists and environmental experts are working together to revive the polluted Jukskei River that runs through Johannesburg.

The river runs through many urban areas, including the densely populated township of Alexandra. During heavy rainfall, the river often bursts its banks, causing flooding.

Volunteers and activists have set up colourful litter traps where the river passes through Alexandra. The traps are made out of recycled plastics woven together to make nets.

Environmental experts have advised residents on the best design for the handwoven traps, which catch all kinds of junk, including vast amounts of plastic, discarded tyres, and even fibre-optic cables. The nets have been placed at strategic locations along the river, accompanied by artworks made by local artists with materials salvaged from the river.

This initiative is being implemented under the continent-wide Suncasa initiative – a project led by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the World Resources Institute.

The Jukskei project aims to plant more than 40,000 trees along the river in Johannesburg and clear up the surrounding land with the help of community activists.

Johannesburg artist Hannelie Coetzee and the Alexandra Water Warriors (AWW), a civic organisation with more than 2,000 volunteers, have been working on cleaning and rehabilitating the Alexandra section of the Jukskei for years.

Coetzee recruited artists who produced large sculptures along the river using material salvaged from it. “I think it’s been a missed opportunity for a very long time not to involve communities in this level of participation,” she said. “It not only helps change the river system, but it also creates agency and buy-in from the community to maintain it. Art is not an add-on here, it is central to ecological restoration.”

A founder of the Alexandra Water Warriors, Paul Maluleke, said the litter traps are emptied almost daily by community volunteers who take the waste to the AWW recycling station to be sorted and recycled. The plan is to roll the project out in other communities facing similar problems.

Samiksha Singh earned her PhD in environmental science for her study on the impact of microplastics in river systems like the Jukskei. “Interventions like these are very important,” she said, “because we need to make sure our water is clean and safe, not only for consumption, but for recreation in our communities.”

Singh said being part of the collaboration between scientists, residents, and artists has been “really interesting” and “felt like I was taking the knowledge I had learnt and using it to find practical solutions with real outcomes”. – GroundUp