The coastline from Amanzimtoti Main Beach to Umbogintwini Beach is looking better and cleaner than before, all thanks to the Clean Surf Project in partnership with Kuswag High School who recently removed over 1 280.60kg of waste from the area.
Over 6km were covered in the walk that focused on removing plastic and general litter trapped between stormwater pipes, buried underneath the sand and/or caught inside the dune vegetation along our treasured Sapphire Coastline. Romy Wenzel from the community tourism organisation, Sapphire Coast Tourism, said they were also joined by Rudolf Nezar from Durban Life.
Wenzel said some of the waste material collected included plastic bottles and buckets, plastic tubs and bottle tops, nappies, polystyrene, candles, toys, light bulbs, fridge doors, suitcases and laptop bags, shoes and slops, animal carcasses, masks, lollipop sticks, earbuds and even car parts. Wenzel said that it is just as important to understand where the litter is coming from.
“Sadly, a lot of waste is being incorrectly disposed of by throwing litter, whether domestic or industrial, onto streets and into green spaces, into canals as well as rivers. Ultimately, rainfall and/or floods result in litter being flushed out into the ocean, a serious threat to our marine life and ecosystems.
Hence, the said area is constantly being affected by the Umbogintwini River and its Rivermouth with an outrageous amount of plastic waste washing down from upstream, causing it to ‘disappear’ into the sea and being scattered along the coastline,” she added.
Wenzel also thanked the local law enforcement officers and beach management from eThekwini Municipality District 5 for patrolling the area as well as Justice and his team from Beach Cleansing for the speedy removal of all bags collected.
For more information or any other upcoming clean-up projects, contact Clean Surf Project on 082-802-3353 or 083-733-6468 or email cleansurfproject@gmail.com about educational presentations.
