Infant Alien Invasive Plants

With the weather warming up and Summer upon us, we have seen an increase in the
sprouting of the infant alien invasive plants along the upper Barrage Vaal River Reservoir.
The majority of the Infant plants are Hyacinth, at this stage, and they are mainly
concentrated in the reed banks, with the bulk of growth being between River Spray Estate
and the R59 bridge.

Rand water have put out tenders for quotations, however this is a lengthy process and
unfortunately as experienced last year, time is not on our side.
As an interim measure SAVE is being proactive and will be starting from the 14th of October
to remove the infant plants using a newly designed Skimmer boat to collect infant plants
floating on the sides and in the reeds. This process is a preventative measure and will assist
in keeping costs to a minimum by removing plants before seeding, rapid growth and the
formation of large “blankets” of the alien invasive plants, and thus negating the need to use
excavators in the future.

The Skimmer boat is fitted with specially designed nets that trap the infant aquatic weeds as
the boat drives down the river.

SAVE has limited funds left over from previous donations and we need to execute the
eradication in the best possible way to ensure that we prevent the natural disaster from
reoccurring.

With SAVE being an NPO, all contributions are appreciated to ensure that the banks of the
Vaal River can be enjoyed by all through the summer period and welcome the new year with
a clean and safe river. Donations are tax deductible per Section 18A of the Income Tax Act.

Below are some images of what will be extracted by the newly built Skimmer boat to clean
the river preventing the ” disaster” from reoccurring.

PBO: 930000875 NPO REG: 009-380
Committee members: Malcolm Plant – 0825662101; Desiree du Toit – 0825589810; Johan du Toit – 0832510248;
Mike Gaade – 0825686826; Chris Williams – 0715651688; Bernard Fourie – 0825527030; Cindy Niblett – 082808306;
Bianca Hűrlimann – 0712842974; Brandon Stuart – 0833902955; Nico Siebrits – 0824901813; Shaun Faccio 0723848870