The Sasol cormorant dam at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, which is now virtually empty.| Image: supplied.
For the past 15 years, twice a week and sometimes four, internationally renowned astronomer David Block has regularly directed his gaze earthwards, spending hours bird-watching at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Roodepoort.
But on his two visits since the gardens reopened earlier this month, Block has been met with a disturbing sight: an almost completely dry Sasol cormorant dam, where the bird hide is located, and withered grounds.
“The garden has been out of irrigation water since February 10 until today,” said an irate Block, an emeritus professor at Wits University’s school of computer science and applied mathematics.
“This was the most beautiful bird hide area, with 226 species of birds, and they all will never return unless we do something quickly. This is, to my mind, a national treasure on the brink of death,” he said.
“I don’t know what the problem is… but the point is it’s dead. When I took this picture, there was water for another seven days. Can you believe it? It would be a national disaster to have this dam die.”
He believed the reason why the bird hide is now closed to the public is “because the dam has been allowed to dry up”. Block contacted with officials at the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) this week but the “red tape seems impossible to break through timeously”.
He said: “There’s no sense of shock and urgency. I’m devastated by the inaction.”
In a statement on Friday, Sanbi acknowledged the lack of water for the past six months had caused severe damage to the status of the garden and the “well-being” of the dam.
“The Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden has had an unfortunate situation with one of its water manifold pipes that supplies water from the waterfall to the reservoir. This assists with the irrigation of the whole garden,” it said.
“This pipe also diverts water into the Sasol cormorant dam, which had subsequently become dry due to the lack of water and the dry season we are experiencing.”
The repair of the pipe at the waterfall needed specialists and experienced service providers due to the position of the pipe, it said.
“Procurement of specialist service providers has to be undertaken through directives of the Department of Treasury and a supply chain management process, and due to the nationwide lockdown that we have experienced since the end of March 2020, this has been a challenge.
“However, now that the lockdown has been downgraded to level 2 we have some positive news that the pipe will be fixed before the end of August 2020.
“Unfortunately, however, the lack of water for the past six months has caused severe damage to the status of the garden and the well-being of the dam. This should be resolved once the water issue has been resolved,” it said.
Covid-19 cannot be used as an excuse, said Block. “The problem arose on February 10. Someone phoned me on Thursday saying the Sanbi directors will visit the dam next week to take a look following my email to them last Monday.
“My simple question is this: Why is their visit only going to happen seven months after the pipes blocked on February 10, six weeks before the lockdown? Covid-19 is not to blame. They should have visited on February 12.”
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