With brown muck floating on the water about 30 kayaks bobbed in the ocean off Green Point on Sunday March 26 as their occupants enjoyed acoustic guitar music by Orangezicht musician Derek Gripper (“A concert on the water for a good cause”, Atlantic Sun March 2).
All proceeds of the fundraiser went to a pilot project doing independent testing of water quality (“Ocean choking on sewage,” Atlantic Sun, November 24 2016).
Billed as an experimental floating concert, the organisers have been trying to hold the concert since Sunday February 26 but it has been postponed numerous times due to heavy winds and swell.
According to Water Watch SA, the City pumps at least 50 million litres of sewage a day into the ocean off Green Point, Camps Bay and Hout Bay, with all of the sewage in the City Bowl ending up in the Atlantic Ocean. Water Watch SA is concerned about the effects of this sewage on water users and wildlife. Earlier on Sunday, a regular kayaker reported on their Whatsapp group sightings of Southern Right Whales off Queen’s Beach in Sea Point, a mega pod of Common Dolphins between Llandudno and Oudekraal heading towards Camp’s Bay and about 30 Heaviside Dolphins in Granger Bay.
Stuart Diamond, the acting mayoral committee member for informal settlements, water and waste services, and energy, said the City’s water testing was adequate. “The City remains committed to performing the testing required in terms of the South African water quality guidelines for coastal marine waters in order to determine long-term water quality trends. Weekly or bi-monthly testing is sufficient to determine whether there are any persistent water quality issues,” he said.
