Heaps of construction rubble stretch across Driftsands, which until two years ago was a fynbos nature reserve. Now it is the informal settlement known as Covid-19, home to 11,500 households.
Residents were asked to chip in R2 each this week to hire a bulldozer to spread the hundreds of tons of rubble and old tar over the largest surviving remnant of Cape Flats dune fynbos.
The endangered vegetation was the pride and joy of what used to be Driftsands Nature Reserve, which was proclaimed in 1983. Now it has been trampled to death by the people who took refuge on the reserve after losing their livelihoods and homes during the pandemic lockdown.
The deluge of rubble, which is being used to fill in wetlands and build roads, is the final straw, and the custodians of the reserve have abandoned any hope of resurrecting it.
Nature is fighting back in the form of mice and snakes that are plaguing residents, but reserve management has thrown in the towel.
Recognising that the ecosystem status inside the reserve boundaries had been compromised beyond acceptable ecological thresholds, the decision was taken to start the process of relinquishing management of the Driftsands provincial nature reserve
— Wouter Kriel
CapeNature and Western Cape officials have given notice of their intention to “withdraw and abolish the nature reserve”, which covers 507ha between Somerset West and the Cape Town International Airport.
Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for environment MEC Anton Bredell, said the dune ecosystem — once characterised by seasonal rivers and wetlands that attracted flamingoes — had been compromised.
“The fauna and flora represent Cape Flats dune strandveld, a threatened ecosystem, the conservation of which contributes to national conservation targets,” said Kriel.
“The area that remains unoccupied is within the Kuils River detention dam and Kuils River floodplain. Sand dunes on higher ground that remain in the west are impacted by vegetation removal, trampling and earthworks by unlawful occupants.
“The occupation was, and remains, volatile and attempts to address it were met with threats of violence and destruction of property and infrastructure.”
In July 2020, the high court in Cape Town granted CapeNature an interim interdict prohibiting trespassing and occupation of the reserve.
Four months later the interdict was finalised and CapeNature was granted on order allowing it to apply for the eviction of those who had moved in. But such applications were prohibited during the state of disaster.
Siphesihle Kwangi, secretary of the Covid-19 steering committee, said the moratorium on evictions meant about 27,000 people now call Covid-19 home — and are determined to make it more habitable.
“This place gets waterlogged and the swamps pose a health risk. But construction trucks seeking places to dump rubble have been very helpful,” Kwangi told the Sunday Times this week.
“We ask them to offload inside the nature reserve. And then we ask every household for R2 and hire a machine to fill up the swamps with the rubble.”
Liyema Maliwa said she needed tons of rubble to compact a street leading to her shack because her Audi gets stuck in the sand when it rains.
“There is enough space here, and were are close to the main road,” she said. “We are sharing this place with animals — we have a huge mice problem, we have skin problems — but we have no choice. Our government has failed us.”
Resident Bathobele Msuthu said the nature reserve could never be restored to its former state. “The vegetation, sand dunes and swamps have been badly destroyed,” he said.
“The skin problems and other illnesses are evidence that this place was not meant for human beings. But we are already here and the government should provide us with water, toilets and electricity.”
Botanical ecologist Caitlin von Witt said the loss of the nature reserve would have far-reaching effects.
“The proximity of the reserve and its education centre to local townships makes it one of the most important in the city,” said Witt, who is director of the nonprofit FynbosLife, which focuses on restoring indigenous fynbos across its natural range.
“It is a critical protected area of an endangered vegetation type that is endemic to Cape Town. Driftsands is also part of an extensive wetland network which ameliorates urban flooding.
“The rehabilitation potential of strandveld is generally high and results are rapid. Disturbance shouldn’t always be considered irreversible and cause for complete de-proclamation,” she said.
“If the settlement can be relocated to more suitable drylands there is a good chance that ecosystem functioning can be restored to near-normal levels. This would require a combination of passive and active restoration efforts, which would rely on the soil seed bank as well as propagation of local plant species from intact parts of the reserve.”
The land invasion issue is replicated in miniature more than 1,400km to the north-east on the south lawn of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where a Khoisan group has been camping for three years.
In response to a parliamentary question from the DA MP Denis Joseph, minister of public works & infrastructure Patricia de Lille said this week her department had hired a private security company to secure the area in Pretoria.
“The [department] is responsible for the eviction process of the group on-site. The sheriff is currently in the process of serving documents,” said De Lille.
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