Greetings All ……

This is going to be a bumper amount of feedback on activities in and around our area….. so let’s dive in with the TOAD TUNNEL that is the talk of the town in environmental circles internationally. Congrates to CTEET and all other roleplayers who never gave up when the going got tough to complete this project…. read all about it by clicking on this link….

Community Market feedback ……

The next market will be on the 6th June and we will ensure that the marketing arm of FOZR gets all the steps in place to allow hundreds of people to access our environment and enjoy nature in Zeekoevlei again.

The BIGGEST CLEANUP EVER took place a couple of weeks ago and we had an even bigger than expected attendance. We had to arrange additional team leaders the morning to make sure that the 94 people that attended were used in the most effective way to collect as much dirt as possible. The vibe was one of “lets go and make sure that we do our bit for the environment!” Groups were seen filling bags in Von Blommenstein , Little Lotus river, End of Peninsula road and on the flotilla of private boats that volunteered to assist. The Sunday times photographer was pleasantly surprised as she was taken to all the areas where the cleanup was taking place by boat…

Then, just before drawdown, we took the families and winners of the most enthuiastic youths onto the water for about 2 hours…. wow! They were fascinated by what the vlei offers and how littering is real spoiling our environment….. that was a real eye opener for All the family members who hailed from Lavender Hill!

Oh… did i mention the younger ones had a blast tubing behind the boats as well, with HUGE SMILES?

DRAWDOWN 2021

Took place on the 27th April at 09.00 as announced and congratulations to FBNR staff who were on the ball at this occasion again…. encouraging to see their enthusiasm so that that our environment remains as clean as possible. Well done to the leadership for instilling that in them as well by the examples they set.

Read the reason & role for the draw down Role of Draw-down in managing Zeekoevlei …by Liz Day

We said a sad good bye to Asief Khan as he has been transferred to another division to ensure that his vast experience is utilised there as well – A huge THANK YOU from all of us in the area sir!

Berg River Canoe Marathon

Here they go again.. Local residents, Tas Pollock and John Hishin will be doing the Ultrapaddle In support of the Berg River Canoe Marathon … wow!

The Ultra Paddle was first held in 2020 when the Berg River Canoe Marathon was cancelled because of Covid.
The idea was that paddlers could paddle the equal distance (240 Km) of the normal Berg on any body of water anywhere in the World.
This could be done over either a 4 day or one month period.
It was a huge success with people from Australia, England,The USA, Europe, Hong Kong and South Africa participating.

In 2020 Taz Pollock and John completed the Ultra Paddle (247KM) over a period of 24 days of which 200 KM was completed on our Zeekoevlei. So when you see them slogging it out on the water relentlessly, encourage them all the time as it is for an amazing cause.

This year they will be raising funds for Friends of Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei (FOZR) so that we can continue to do what we do to keep our environment in the best condition possible, enabling all water users to enjoy their sports safely.

Our sincere THANK YOU goes to John and Taz once again for the great support and we know that all our residents WILL be making their contributions as requested above…… best wishes….

History of Zeekoevlei

The Friends of Zeekoevlei & Rondevlei are appealing to anyone who has old documents, photo’s, newspaper articles or stories about the history of Zeekoevlei. We have received very important documents dating back to 1980 by a resident. These documents – entitled “Zeekoevlei Dredging Investigation” are hugely interesting to FoZR and the FBNR PAAC ( Protected Areas Advisory Committee) and very possibly will assist us to further the cause on this important issue.

Very interesting photos and facts have been shared so far and we will be arranging a common site where this can be viewed by all interest parties soon..

Please scan and send any documents you may have to fozrmarketing@gmail.com In light of the recent fire at UCT we have been reminded about the need to preserve these important documents

Big Lotus River INTENSE Cleanup

Go check the Big Lotus River as soon as you can …. wow! It’s looking healthier than it has looked in decades. The rehabilitation project of our river is going well and it is amazing to see how the contractors staff are cleaning the sides of the river by removing all the alien vegetation and huge piles of litter. They are then moving across the whole river and digging up the litter that had become embedded into the mud, making sure that it is a real ”’deep clean” This pro active step by the COCT must be recognised and we thank them for the amazing work done in Big Lotus…. now to make sure that our residents of Cape Town stop littering!

They are still on site and working away at getting that area as pristine as possible before the huge winter rains that normally hit Cape Town. Every bit helps to keep our amazing environment healthy.

Note that FOZR representatives have had their first session with representatives of the mayors office on site, to ensure that we assist with identifying areas where they can deploy teams into with the goal of increasing awareness of the devastation caused by littering.

REED REMOVAL DURING DRAWDOWN

This exercise has been implemented once again and 16 days has already been booked immediately. Details are: FOZR will provide 6 workers to remove reeds as allowed by your official reed removal permit at a cost of R1 600 per day all inclusive. The reeds will be removed from the curb as usual by FBNR as soon as possible.

To start the simple process, send a mail to FOZRMARKETING@GMAIL.COM, and you will be contacted for an appointment to view work required. Booking made and walla… all done…..

Phew! We trust that you are now up to speed with all activities in the area and thank you for the amazing support….