Cape Town - A video depicting the collapse of the weir at gate one of the Silvermine Nature Reserve that has resulted from leaks in the dam has been shared on social media.
Frequent visitors to Silvermine have confirmed that the damage had been getting dramatically worse for years.
Jürgen Buchelt, a member of the Friends of Table Mountain Facebook group, took the video while hiking with his dogs over the weekend, subsequently alerting the public, the City and Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) that the small weir and dam in the upper reaches of the Silvermine River had become substantially damaged.
Buchelt said the leak through the weir was so massive that all the water ran underneath and washed through the foundations of the weir, which would sooner or later collapse the weir and destroy the little aquatic environment there.
“A previously existing minor leak through the foundations of the weir had by November 2021 deteriorated considerably to the point that the small dam had emptied and the water was draining through the foundations of the weir and under its spillway,” Buchelt said.
Buchelt said the current leak would inevitably lead to more severe damage and eventually result in the structural collapse of the weir and spillway due to erosion of the foundations.
Friends of Table Mountain (FOTM) chairperson Andy Davies said the infrastructure on TMNP was unfortunately deteriorating due to the lack of pro-active maintenance and adequate resources.
“There are many, many more examples of this deterioration, such as broken boardwalks, badly eroded trails, significant invasive alien tree infestation, etc. It is clear to us that SANParks needs to increase the operational budget for TMNP to address the decay of our precious mountain,” Davies said.
Water and Sanitation acting Mayco member Siseko Mbandezi said: “The department is aware of the leaks on the dam wall which are closely monitored as well as the state in which the dam has deteriorated.”
Mbandezi said the department was engaging with SANParks on taking over the operation and maintenance management of the dam.
SANParks spokesperson Lauren Howard-Clayton said their scientists visited the site on Tuesday and were busy compiling an ecological report of the site.
Howard-Clayton said their technical team would also be doing an assessment of the weir and a consolidated response would be shared with the Cape Argus once all the assessments were done.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za