Local Flooding

 

Another 85mm of rain fell yesterday and today resulting in a localised flood in my garden. I really love this rain but the animals are not too happy with all this water everywhere.

Daily Water Intake

 

So here I am sitting at my desk, when I notice all these empty water containers on my desk. Yip water bottles from my daily water intake. Well I try my best to drink as much water as I can.

Waterproofing

 

We weren't sure if the weather would clear, but it seems that God held the rain at bay especially in our neck of the woods just enough to water proof our leaking flat roof. After getting detailed instructions from Dudley of Rubber It, on how to use his liquid rubber product, we washed down the roof with soapy water and scrapped off any lose material.When that was dry, I sealed all the joints with gauze and acrylic waterproofing paint. Then once that was dry we applied the first coat of the liquid rubber compound to the roof which had to go on in one direction. Then we will leave it to dry overnight and apply a second coat this time in the perpendicular direction tomorrow.

Lets hope the rain will hold off till Monday.

Blessed Start

A few days ago the water in our swimming pool was over 30cm low and below the weir so we had to turn off the pool pump because municipal water is expensive and we didn't want to add to our expenses. 

Yesterday, the last day of the year it started raining, and raining. Firstly we were happy that the pool was finally getting full and secondly the rain would put a damper on Old Year's Eve firework celebrations which happen in the suburbs so much that all the local pets are terrified and a few even die.

We went to bed only after midnight just in cause some arsehole decides that fireworks in the rain would be fun. Once our dogs and cats were safely tucked away, we crashed only to crawl out of bed about 11 in the morning to find our garden flooded and pool overflowing. 

What a blessed start to 2019. This year is going to be way better the last horrible one.

Mamlambo

Remember I wrote before about naked men in our river and that over the last few years 12 naked bodies have been fished out of the stream that flows in the kloof below my home. Well today we dive in deeper which reminds me, that I still want to write an article about the different religious groups that congregate here at the holy waters, and today I start with the Medicine Man.

This morning Andreas, Suzanne, Lynda, and myself, went down into the kloof to check on the state of the stream and good news, the air was clean and fresh with no more sewerage odour hanging in the air. Only problem, is that there is still a lot to do as there is plenty of litter still down there which are being left behind by the religious groups. Andreas explained to me that the solution might be with bringing in school project trips down into the kloof to help clean up.

I enjoy going down the kloof, talking to the various religious groups represented down there, learning about the different practices that are being performed at this most holy site. And sometimes, yes sometimes coming across a naked man bathing in public is not a pleasant sight and something you simply can't unsee in a hurry but this time I got a talking to Hubert, the slave name of the traditional medicine man shown above, who hurriedly got dressed as not to offend me and the other hikers after his naked dip into the holy waters. I used to call this water, the holy sewerage due to the high sewerage content in the water and even though the water looked crystal clear and very cold now, I wasn’t 100% sure it was safe to bathe in let alone drink even though to the pilgrims this water is holy.

In my conversation with Hubert, we broached the subject of the 12 naked bodies that were found over the years drowned in about a foot of stream water. He then went on to explain to me the story of the Mamlambo, the spiritual water snake or mermaid that lives in the water especially by the waterfall where most of the bodies have been found. At first it was hard to believe that a large water snake the size of a large African Python or even a mermaid living in the pool below the waterfall. I know that with my Christian upbringing that the spiritual world actually exists and is very dangerous to meddle in but I wanted to know why Hubert still wanted to bathe in this water knowing that there is this Mamlambo killing people. Hubert's faith in the traditional African ways mixed with Christianity is strong even though I don't believe that the 2 can be mixed, it is either 1 or the other.

While Hubert explained, a man on the other side of the stream started cracking a whip as if to chase away demons. At first I thought it was some sort of self flagellation but noticed that he was whipping the air. Hubert went on to clarify that if you go into the water and you are not right inside, that is when the Mamlambo comes and claims you, eish yet you still go into the waters, and he smiled.

Most of the pilgrims are here for the holy water. One person who I met about 2 weeks ago down here and again today, calls himself a prophet, he comes here, prays a lot and afterwards he collects the holy water in large 2l and 5l containers which he takes back home. He then bottles the holy water into smaller containers which he then sells for R80 a bottle. Uhmmm, I wonder, is there a market for this holy water? Are there any medicinal properties or is it a placebo? I need to collect some testimonials from these pilgrims and also get the water tested, sounds like a plan but I don’t want to offend the Mamlambo, if she exists.

We Need Answers

Some say that this water crisis that we endured for the last 3 days puts it all in perspective about those who don’t have running water. I agree but we have gotten so used to 1st world luxury of clean running water in South Africa although clean and safe to drink is debatable.

The damaged pipe was repaired late last night and the water was turned back on. It was only just after 6pm that water started flowing through my taps.

• The questions about the catastrophe of the last 3 days still remain unanswered. Who is responsible for the disaster? The contractor who should have a signed off approval from the City of Joburg and have plans of all the amenities in the area such as a main water artery.  

• Why didn’t anyone know where to switch off the interconnection water supply sections and their only solution was to drain nearly the entire West Rand? If reports are true which sound crazy, why did they have to drain all the reservoirs? Isn’t there some sort of stop cock on the outlets of the reservoirs? It just doesn’t sound right as I would have drained the pipes but not the reservoirs unless someone had remembered too late to shut them off and the reservoirs ran dry. 

• Water that goes into our homes turns the meters which we have to pay for the water used but when the pipes where drained back out the meters don’t go backwards do they? Later when the water is re-filled the meter turned again therefore we are paying twice? 

• As soon as the water was turned back on I got an SMS text from a plumber spamming his services, yes it wasn't long after the water was back on that people were asking on social media for reliable plumbers for burst geysers. Now who is going to pay for these plumbing problems, the contractors who damaged the pipe in the first place?

We need answers, but for now I am thankfully going to enjoy my shower and let this all wash away like a bad memory.

Franki I don’t give a Damn

Oh boy, yesterday while at Decorex, I heard the news that a contractor had seriously damaged a main water artery in Constantia Kloof, about 10km to the South East from our home. At first I thought that it was too far and not affect us but someone forgot to tell Joburg Water as they decided to turn off all the water supplies across the entire ridge system so that they could drain the site.

Our water pipes ran dry in the early evening and the news coming through the media did not look good. One of the main contractors on site working when the accident occurred was Franki Africa which I assume is the main culprit as no one is giving us any information as to who is responsible. I have a lot of questions as to why I am sitting without water so far from the problem.

• Who is the contractor responsible for this? 

• Why didn’t anyone have plans to where this main water artery was? It is a 750mm pipeline for Frankie’s sake, not a small water pipe. 

• The system is designed interconnected to feed each sector if one reservoir goes down, but surely these interconnecting sections can be isolated and why isn’t there anyone in Joburg Water that knows how to and where to isolate each section from the other as not to affect nearly all the West Rand which is now without water? Come on chaps, really? Did you really have to turn off such a large area?

So news in is that finally the area around the pipe is clear of water and sometime this evening repairs will start. Hopefully if all goes well we will have water again towards the end of tomorrow.

Grrrrrrr !!!! Feel my pain. Frankie Africa, if it was you or whoever the contractor is, I want nothing short of a big public apology and for you to cover any damage costs that might arise from having no water such as burst pipes or damaged geysers for about a week after the water is switched on. I am now inconvenienced big time and I don’t give a damn.

Holy Sewerage

The title says it all, holy sewerage. A month ago I wrote about raw sewerage flowing into the stream that flows through the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens and I also mentioned about the itinerants cutting down trees in the area.

The biggest problem is that this stream forms the boundary between 2 municipalities, Mogale City and City of Joburg which causes jurisdiction problems and this stream is very critical in terms of bio habitats as well as religiously. It is the source of the Crocodile River and the biodiversity in this area astoundingly exceeds all expectations for such a small area. Both my articles got a lot of exposure with the media getting hold of them. The first one even reached the desk of the mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba. It even got me into environmental circles that I would have never dreamed of being in. What next, I suppose next is Green Peace.

Firstly a report back on the raw sewerage. We were told by the council members and heads of sanitation of both Mogale City and City of Joburg that the leaks have been fixed. With a lot of people watching, Andreas Oberlechner, chair person of the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch organised a walk down into the kloof this morning hoping lots would attend since it being a public holiday. He invited all the necessary people along so that they can see for themselves the beauty of the Witpoortjie Kloof, which I am told that this kloof is called, and inspect the repair work. But sadly the offer was not taken up by many and only the Friends of Kloofendal and myself took up the offer.

Okay that was the bad news now for the good, the kloof is sewerage free, yay! All the leaks have been repaired and unblocked. New manhole covers have replaced the broken and missing. The broken sewer pipe has been repaired. Good news everywhere we checked. All we need now is some good rains to wash the residue build up away. Never has so much been done, so quickly by so few. Now for some more name dropping, thank you to the councillors Suzanne Clark and Antoinette Fourie from City of Joburg and Mogale City along with the respective environmental and water management teams for getting their hands dirty and fixing the environmental mess, South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the community forums, environmental groups, and the media. A big thank you to all as no more raw sewerage is flowing into the National Botanical Gardens. We will keep monitoring the situation.

Now for the Holy part of my article today. Since it is a public holiday, pilgrims came flooding into the kloof to drink and fetch the holy water of the springs that are at the head of the kloof. Yes we have Holy Water flowing out of the rocks. Previously I thought it was just the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) coming down to the water but today my eyes were opened as I questioned a lot of the pilgrims. They were from all different types of faith, not only the ZCC but the apostolic faith churches, and even the Emmanuel Mission from Soweto were represented. I have seen the traditional healers, sangomas, and inyangas here too but not today.

This pilgrim just came out of the old flooded mineshaft fetching freezing cold Holy Water

Now I don’t mind the pilgrims because the water is for all South Africans, as long as we keep it clean. I must say that the pilgrims were very thankful that the sewerage spills had been fixed but my problem now is the amount of litter left down in the kloof, cutting down of indigenous trees for firewood, and the invasive alien plants.

As for the indigenous tree cutting, I even saw some pilgrims bringing in their own firewood from outside which is good, even better is to cut down all the invasive wattle trees. I asked about the litter and they fervently denied they were the culprits, but okay never mind who is doing it, let’s find a solution to clean it up and prevent it from happening. Another question which I never asked the pilgrims but voiced my concern with my fellow hikers, what about the pilgrims ablutions. Where do they go? In the holy waters?

We can only do this together. We need to work together with the pilgrims, the political parties in charge of Mogale City and City of Joburg, SANBI, the community forums, environmental groups, and the locals living in the area such as myself. We can do it. We can make this kloof along with its holy waters a place for all to come and find God in whatever form they believe even if their god is nature and mother earth.

Not Far Away

Last week I reported on the raw sewerage that is flowing into the stream near us. The one sewerage leak that falls under the jurisdiction of City of Joburg has been reported to the right people but it is the bigger blockage which is overflowing that seems more difficult to find the right people to report it to from Mogale City. Lets hope that both leaks can be sorted out soon.

The both spillages flow into the stream at the source of the Crocodile River. Here the stream is called the Muldersdrift se Loop as it flows through a steep gorge and down 2 waterfalls before reaching the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens. After flowing though the Bot Gardens it forms the boarder of the elite Featherbrooke Estate before it leaves the urban sprawl and joins up the Bloubank Stream and becoming the Crocodile River.

Now today’s post is about this stream, the Bloubank Stream, and the tranquil Nirox Sculpture Park which is situated in the armpit of the Bloubank stream. Now you won’t think that this place started off as a trout farm with the surrounding farming putting a lot of strain on the stream.

All that has changed as Nirox has become the beating heart of the Cradle of Mankind with landscaped gardens and waterways. Looked after by the Nirox Foundation, Nirox serves as a residency for both local and international artists, with concerts, exhibitions, events, and private functions thrown in, normally at a price but twice a year they open their gates in a Summer and Winter Exhibition to the public. And it is at the Winter 2017 Exhibition that Lynda and I found ourselves once again at Nirox Sculpture Park on a beautiful Highveld Sunday sitting on two deckchairs, surrounded by art and beauty just breathing in the splendour not far from the maddening crowds and sewerage.

Water Restrictions

The water restrictions imposed upon us by the City of Joburg, due to the drought has been partially lifted in our area last week even though the Department of Water and Sanitations have officially lifted theirs. I suppose it is good to be cautious but it was about time as it was not easy watering our vegetable garden by watering can when there was a perfectly good irrigation system built into our garden and what a pleasure in turning the sprinklers on and watch our herbs and vegetables breathe a sigh of relief.

Water on Tap

Minky loves drinking water out of the tap (for some of my readers, we call a faucet a tap here in South Africa). At first it was quite novel but not when everytime you want to brush your teeth, wash your face, or shave, Minky is up on the basin nearly everytime with you trying your best to share the running tap with her.

Now Princess is getting on the act, so much so that a drinking fountain was added to a purchase wish list, that was until today when Lynda decided enough is enough as two cats at the same time on the basin while she was trying to brush her teeth. So she bought a Petsafe 1.5l Drinkwell for the cats. Now since they don’t want to drink like normal cats out of the water bowl, we have to get them to rather drink here in the cat fountain then trying to share the basin with us.

The Heat is On

Oh well with temperatures just reaching 40 degrees Celsius and the air-con on the blink the heat is on. My colleagues next door don’t want to share their air-con and compromise. They are enjoying my suffering so much so that I came up with a plan to help karma along but then the Holy Spirit reminded me of one of my ideals that I set for this year, “Love the Haters” because hating the haters won’t solve anything, it will just appease you for a little while before you realise that you have gone no-where but backwards. So just smile as I sip another mouthful of water and give them something to worry about.

Last year my ideal was “Judge Not, Compassion and Understanding Changes” which still is for this year but I added the Love one with it. I must say it wasn’t easy to “Judge Not” when I was going through a tough year and it looks like 2016 might be just as tough.

Tomorrow the heat is even hotter with it predicted to go over 40 degrees Celsius, so God help us all as I smile and take another sip of water.

Down By River

At the bottom of my garden is some veldt and a little beyond that is the Jukskei River. Now as you know by a previous post that our land is dying of thirst as the summer rains have been delayed by El Niño.

Thankfully we have a very deep borehole that is at least 50m below the Jukskei River and water table but the news around the country was that our countries reservoirs are nearly empty and that some boreholes are drying up, hence our walk down to the river to check on the water levels.

By the looks of it, the water level has dropped about 10cm since last month. The water is flowing strong but a few sandbars are starting to show but no concern for us just yet. When I can walk across here without getting wet then you will see me panic about our home water situation.

They say we need over 25mm of rain to help break the back of this drought. Substantial rain is only expected in March next year although we will get some storms between now and then, it will be too little too late.

Water Water Nowhere

Today shouts of despair are coming out of all parts of Johannesburg as water is cut in many suburbs. It is way too late to avert this water disaster as no one in government was prepared for the full might of El Niño. To them the El Niño is too far away and as far as they know it never affects South Africa.

Oh how wrong they are. El Niño is a weather phenomenon that forms over on the other side of our world in the mid Pacific Ocean. This rapidly heating up of the Pacific, regularly brings with it drought to the southern hemisphere, and we are in the southern hemisphere. El Niño brought South Africa to its knees twice before, in 1983 and again in 1992, by crippling the agriculture segment and the economy.

A new government is now in place since then and it seems that they have not listened to history. Since 1992, El Niño has been mild to South Africa, why do we need to make a fuss? Well now you know, El Niño seems to have a score to settle. The weather service is warning a bleak summer with substantial rains only expected in March next year. Soon our beautiful land will be parched and dry that even the ducks will find themselves high and dry.

After El Niño comes La Niña, when the Pacific rapidly cools, which leads to heavy rains in the southern hemisphere. This blessed rain which we now long for can be too heavy in the beginning and washes away the dry topsoil.

Car Wash

It may be winter but this afternoon was so nice and warm that we decided that it was a perfect time to wash the vehicles. So change to swimming trunks and bikinis... wooh, Bikinis?

Sorry not me in a bikini, fancy that, as I am sure I would never fit in one and besides my body does not do a bikini justice. And I would never post a photo like that on this blog for family viewership.

Kick Myself

Yesterday as I arrived home, the landlord phones me to inform that the plumber is going to come round today at 8am to finally fix the water issues at home. Okay this means I needed to stay at home and get to work a bit late but no worries.

8 am past, then so did 9 am, and at 10 I phoned the landlord to let him know that I can’t wait forever and I need to get to work sometime. The landlord phoned the plumber and got back to me that he was on Ceder road heading towards my home. The plumber finally arrived just before half past ten, :-(

Well let’s be positive, the plumber is here now so let gets these issues out of the way. Since he was here last week Friday, we still did not have hot water in kitchen, the wash machine was not getting any water, the broken back door, and the water pressure. Not much but when you can’t clean the kitchen up it does become an issue.

Not long afterwards all the issues where fixed, well so I thought... best to let you read my conversation with Lynda what went down.

Glad to say all is now fixed, not 100% but liveable even after kicking myself.

Four Ducklings

We are into the beginning of summer and babies are popping up everywhere. From the cats bringing in baby chicks from their raids to these four little ducklings feeding in the stream. They are quite well camouflaged amongst the small rocks, one is at the bottom middle while the other three are at the top middle busy bobbing for food. After the hype and busyness of Ingress yesterday, we weren’t sure of what to do. Well Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest né. With thoughts of babies everywhere how can anyone rest? Even yesterday there was quite a few prams at the Darsana XM Anomaly. It must have been a busy productive spring.

Foxy Water

This post has nothing to do with foxes other than what is written on this reusable water bottle. "Oh for fox sake", there goes San Francisco banning bottled water. Well not all bottled water only those in those thin single use bottles. Thank goodness I am in Africa where clean water is a premium. Soda sales are dropping while bottled water are soaring. I started drinking milk, then changed to fizzy soda, and finally to coffee and fruit juice. But clean, safe, pure, and sweet tasting water is all I need.

Would this ban start a trend worldwide? Would soda in plastic bottles also be targeted in the near future?