June 2024
In May 2024, Waterfall City Management Company (WCMC) joined forces with Deloitte to host a clean-up of the mighty Jukskei River. The event, which was a belated celebration of the International Day of Action For Rivers, commemorated annually in March, helped create awareness of just some of our resourceful environmental initiatives, like the wetland rehabilitation project, as reported in the February edition of Waterfall City Magazine.
“Waterfall City incorporates sustainable principles as part of our development philosophy,” says Ruan Spies, Environmental Manager at Waterfall City Management Company (WCMC). “People who see rivers from a distance would like to imagine pristine waters and thriving fauna and flora. Sadly, the reality has been very different for several years concerning the Jukskei River. Awareness initiatives are often crucial when overcoming challenges such as dilapidated water courses. The clean-up event with Deloitte was a great way to provide many people with first-hand experience regarding the nature and scale of litter, sewage pollution and invasive plant species in our waterways.”
Volunteering for change
Once a year, Deloitte organises a Volunteer Day across Africa for its more than 7 500 professionals. This day comprises various events contributing to impactful initiatives focused on agriculture, education and entrepreneurship. With their head office based in Waterfall City, this year they embarked on a river clean-up event for the Jukskei River that runs through the development.
“Cleaning up a river like the Jukskei is an important opportunity for our people to learn about the negative impacts of waste entering water bodies and to play our part in addressing and tackling the issue head-on,” says Ryan Barrett, Assistant Manager in Sustainability and Chief of Staff for Sustainability, Climate and Equity at Deloitte. “We had 150 people from all parts of our business, bringing their unique experiences and strengths together, from graduates to Senior Directors and even the Managing Director of the Risk Advisory business, join in to help clean-up the waste.”
For logistical reasons, the clean-up occurred at the Buccleuch Part of the river, on Waterfall City’s outskirts. Even so, it highlights the importance of preventing litter and other waste from impacting downstream communities.
There are many contributing factors that realised the pollution troubles of the Jukskei River, as is the case with many other rivers in South Africa. With this in mind, the clean-up served its purpose of public education as opposed to addressing the root causes, which in turn alludes to more long-term relationships with interested and affected parties.
“We packed 10 cubic metres of rubbish in the few hours our people spent there. While this is just a drop in the bucket, Deloitte will continue working with Waterfall City to impact our community positively. Deloitte provided the teams with bags and protective gear, with WCMC working closely with us to ensure our people’s safety and provide insights and guidance for the clean-up to be efficient and effective,” says Barrett.
In addition to the waste collected, the clean-up also removed 12 cubic metres of alien and invasive plant species from the river. These will be used to supplement the local compost site at Waterfall City.
Broader community impact
Barrett believes sustainability issues are ‘we’ problems requiring ‘we’ solutions.
“We must continue collaborating with partners like WCMC to see meaningful change. This is only a start but will become part of a broader conversation. Organisations need to take it upon themselves to make an impact. Of course, individuals must also understand the influence of our collective decisions on water bodies, biodiversity, and fauna and flora,” he adds.
The partnership with Deloitte is just one example of how Waterfall City continues to form alliances to realise a circular economy, a cornerstone of sustainability.
“We hope these events will continue to grow awareness of our environmental efforts and how working with different stakeholders is essential to making a meaningful difference,” says Spies. “This campaign with Deloitte highlights the need for broader collaboration and strengthening public-private partnerships to establish lasting and positive impacts on local communities and the environment.”
A word of thanks
In addition to the fantastic work we did with Deloitte, the river clean-up also provided us with an opportunity to connect with several other organisations, and we cannot thank them enough for their contributions:
<li>ARMOUR (Action for Responsible Management of Our Rivers): This NPO is instrumental in conveying awareness regarding the greater Jukskei River’s need for on-going waste management and river conservation initiatives. Besides conducting an opening brief regarding the state of our rivers, the team helped clean up the waste in the river as well as removing invasive plant species like the Spanish reeds.</li>
<li>Alex River Warriors: These ladies are leaders in their community, where they work protecting and preserving our water resources in Alexandra and Gauteng. They assisted our teams of their own volition.</li>
<li>Country Line Green Warrior: This environmental division of Country Line is unrelenting in its commitment to environmental stewardship, and its pre- and post-event work does not go unnoticed.</li>
<li>Life Green Group: This group is turning the approximately 12 cubic metres of invasive plants the volunteers removed into compost at its site in Waterfall City.</li>
<li>STM (Southern Turf Management): Additional bags were crucial for the clean-up efforts.</li>
<li>Phambili Services: We are grateful for this reliable waste management company, which ensured the safe disposal of all the litter collected.</li>
