Drowning river

The Jukskei River doesn't look like a river- it looks more like a dumping spot and makeshift sewer.

This is what I learnt yesterday when we went on class riverhunt. The Jukskei is not so easy to find. The source hides under Ellis Park and winds through underground canals. It pops up every now and then before heading back underground. Then the Jukskei hits the township of Alex where it starts drowning in trash.  The smell of sewerage permeates the area.

SOUL, Save our Universal Land, has been working on cleaning the Jukskei for ten years. One wouldn't say so.

The dream of sustainable development, a green river and employed community members is what keeps Kim Kieser, CEO of SOUL, passionate as she gestures at the river. She can see beauty and a flourishing ecosystem where we all see filth and dirt. 

The Jukskei is filled with car parts, tires and trash. This is after year-long cleaning projects.

This made me wonder: What's the point of cleaning the Jukskei again if it will land up filthy: again? But Kim says it has to stay clean, always. And 20 million dollars is what she needs to fix the river, forever. Now that her organisation has been represented at the Clinton Global Initiative she thinks they will get the money.

They plan to employ people to clean the river, monitor it and recycle the trash before it lands back in the river. They have done this before but they want it to be an ongoing project so the river doesn't deteriorate again.  Kim hopes recycling done by the community will raise money to employ people to keep the river clean.

But for now it is filled with rats and rubbish. Children play nearby but not inside. Everybody knows the river is dirty, dangerous and dead. Fish do not swim in it. People don't either.

For the next few weeks our class will find out why The Jukskei has become a dangerous source of pollution, and cholera at times and what it will turn into next.