Interesting Articles

Mend the Molweni

The Molweni River, which rises at Springside in Hillcrest and flows through the Everton Gorge and Kloof Gorge, runs over KZN Sandstone and is generally clear and clean. Unfortunately, commercial businesses  in Hillcrest have put a strain on the cleanliness of this river. Injudicious use of the burgeoning sewage system by restaurants, food facilities and industry cause parts of the sewage system to clog up, resulting in sewage overflows into the stormwater drains and thence into the river. The Conservancies of Hillcrest, Everton and Kloof  have banded together to  form the Mend the Molweni project. This body inspects the manholes in Hillcrest twice a day and alerts the Municipality to any spillage. It has also embarked on an education campaign to advise all businesses on the necessity of managing their sewage disposal, especially with regard to disposing of fats  which are the major cause of the clogging of the system.

The Conservancies take samples of the Molweni water regularly and analyse them for E Coli and these analyses have shown widely fluctuating E Coli values . Drinking water should have an E Coli count of zero and the US EPA recommends a count of no more than 126 for safe swimming water. The latest E Coli count of a sample taken at Acutts Bridge at the end of September was 245.

Fresh water eels in the Molweni River

By Chairperson Anthony Kee

The Molweni River rises at the Springside Nature reserve and flows through Hillcrest and Gillitts, falling into the Everton Gorge and thence on to Ezemvelo Nature Reserve and the area of Molweni. The river flows over Kloof Sandstone and is host to a number of special animals and fishes. We have eels in the river. There are four species of eels in South African rivers, all of which breed on the Mascarene basin, northeast of Madagascar. The eels lay their eggs there and the larvae, in the shape of a leaf, drift with the currents and tides, slowly turning into elvers about 2 to 3 cm long. These elvers enter our rivers and make their way upstream climbing cascades and waterfalls, they even climb water falls such as Kloof Falls and Howick Falls, working their way upstream until they find a suitable pool and there they stay for about twelve years until they are sexually mature. Freshwater eels have been found in the pool below Everton falls. Once sexually mature they make their way back downstream, out to sea and swim to the Mascarene basin where they breed and die.

Céline Hanzen is a PhD candidate who is researching the distribution, genetic diversity and behavioural ecology of freshwater eels and the implications for river management in KwaZulu-Natal.  As part of her research Everton Conservancy checked the Molweni river for two seasons but sadly found no sign of elvers.

When a school group helped build a bridge across the Molweni River, they disturbed a huge eel in the pool.