Highlights Notice of Upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 18th December 2025 Message from our outgoing Chairperson (Chester Wilmot) Introduction to incoming Chairperson (Marguerite Davis) Report from portfolio heads Notice of AGMThe Boesmans Kariega Estuary...
Please see the short Dune News attached for an update on the Westbourne / Bushmans dune issue. The letter from Jeremy Ridl on behalf of the Estuary Care Dune Group, representing BRRAG, KOSRA, the Chamber of Business & Tourism and Estuary Care, as well as the approximately 1400 people who signed a supporting petition, addressed to Ndlambe Municipality setting out a full legal position, is available on the Estuary Care website.
The full report is an erosion management plan compiled by EcoCoast SDP Ecological Services
Our two estuaries are the reason Boesmansriviermond and Kenton-on-Sea exist
Following our special Dune meeting on the 23rd of December, please find the below reports: CES Presentation Nov DEC '24 PRDW first report with highlights The Dune presentation...
Highlights Message from our Chairperson (Chester Wilmot) Upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 18th December Estuary Water Test Results & Preventing Estuary Contamination Westbourne Road / Dry Bones Valley Sand Dune Dispute General Projects – Jetties,...
Estuary Care convened a meeting recently with representatives of MER, the Marine Environmental Engineers, their dune expert Andrew Mather and representatives of Ndlambe and BRRAG to confirm the terms of reference for the study.
In this newsletter: Message from our chairperson, Boesmans Slipway & Rubble Clearing, Tow Paths & Clearing Invasive Alien Plants, so much more.....
To inform our community and stakeholders of activities (Phase 1) undertaken by Ndlambe on the Kenton sand dune...
Estuary Care has once again been involved in working alongside Dr Louw Claassens, a Science Officer and Researcher from the Palau National Marine Sanctuary and her team, in designing appropriate signage regarding Pipefish that are found in both our Boesmans and Kariega Estuaries.
We would like to update you on where we are today and highlight some recent developments
We begin the June 2021 newsletter with an important update from our Chairman, Stuart Clarkson. Dear Estuary Care Members and Friends In our last newsletter I reported on our ongoing efforts to secure a sustainable and low risk solution to the ongoing accretion of...
The Estuary Care Committee would like to send out a plea to all recipients of the newsletter to pay their annual subscription fees and to also encourage all other people they know who enjoy the Kariega and Boesmans Estuaries to join and pay their annual fee.
Dave Curren tells us that on the morning of the 5th October an Estuary Care channel marking crew...
In November an Estuary Care team worked over a number of days to repair the Marina Jetty.
This is work in progress and the team is hoping to reinstall it in early December.
What should you do if you find a penguin/seabird/seal/turtle in distress on the beach? Thank you to the NRSI for allowing us to link to their newsletter.
This very neat hole in the sand was found near the Boesmans slipway. The surrounding area was covered with small, very neat uniform balls of sand which look like pebbles.
We end our December newsletter every year with a reminder that we share this space. This holiday season will be particularly challenging. However Coastal Kindness, which is a group of local residents who came together in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, has...
The 18 September 2020 was National Recycling Day. Thank you to Business Day for the two articles which appeared in their 18 September 2020 edition. We believe that every day should be Recycling Day and we invite members of our communities to pick up and dispose...
In late June and July hippo tracks were found on Kenton Main Beach. Below: These photos were taken by Mel Arnott on 29 June. It’s not known where it came from or where it went but tracks were once again spotted by Nina Beaufort on 27 July (images...
Dave Curran says: ‘In late August a westerly wind driven storm resulted in a strong surge tide in the Kariega Estuary with a consequence being that the slipway jetty broke clean off its mountings. The jetty was found beached on the inland side of the road bridge....
Mr Willem Nel, the Ndlambe Environmental Law Officer has asked us to share the following information. All queries should be directed to Mr Nel. Boat licenses are due and have been since the 1st July 2020 for the new financial year 2020-2021. The licenses are...
Our new Chairman is Stuart Clarkson. Stuart comes to us from a background in business. He is passionate about the environment and the well-being of our estuaries and strip of coastline. Stuart grew up in Johannesburg and attended King Edward VII School before going...
Our AGM on the 30 December 2019 was well attended. We were privileged to listen to a riveting presentation, which included superb slides, on Conserving the Critically Endangered Pipefish by Dr Louw Claassens, Programme Director of the Knysna Basin Project. Visit...
Dave Curran continues to coordinate the team of volunteers who transport members of the Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries (DEFF) on inspection trips up both estuaries. Thank you to Andile Maki of the Department for arranging that Certificates of...
Dave Curran continues to coordinate the team of volunteers who transport members of the Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries (DEFF) on inspection trips up both estuaries. Unfortunately, DEFF wardens are not available during December because of other...
It is the time of year again when Kenton and Boesmans fill up with visitors and both estuaries are put to maximum use. Please be aware of and abide by the rules for using a boat on the estuaries. Make sure you have the relevant licenses and are aware of the...
The below information is for all boat owners who use the Boesmans and Kariega Estuaries and particularly to those people who secure their boats to buoys in either of the estuaries. Willem Nel (Environmental Law Officer, Ndlambe Municipality) says: Boat licences are...
What are the differences betweenRecyclable / Compostable / Biodegradable?Recyclable Recyclable or recycling are the most common buzz words out of the three. What it means is that if an item is recyclable it is broken down and repurposed to form something else. It...
On 13 March 2019 at the ProPak Conference at Nasrec, Johannesburg, Executive Director of Plastics SA, Anton Hanekom delivered a speech titled ‘Replacing plastics: blessing or curse?’. He said that the plastic industry is as disgusted at plastic pollution as the...
The Reality: What we seeIt is difficult not become emotionally involved when one sees the plethora of information, and horrendous pictures of the damage litter, particularly plastic, is doing to our planet. There is nowhere on earth that plastic hasn’t had a...
The World Wildlife Fund has released itsTop 10 plastic offenders in South Africa!
Kenton Ratepayers Association advises on the status of the recycling initiative in Kenton/Boesmans. Read hereLocal residents should take their recycling to the iWars site in the Boesmans industrial area. Noshipo advises that polystyrene, newspapers and ‘coloured...
Johannesburg’s very first plastic-free grocery store (www.therefillery.co.za), is helping South Africans fill their pantries, while addressing the plastic pollution crisis... Read more here The first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste took to the...
Recent very heavy rains caused a large wash-away at the upper Middle Beach parking area. After each downpour it got worse and was becoming a possible danger to the public. With financial assistance from Ndlambe Municipality Nick Albrightson from Estuary Care has...
On the 22 March two boys found a juvenile Cape Gannet near Main Beach. It was incredibly tame which was a worry because there were a number of dogs on the beach. Estuary Care was contacted. With the help of our lifesavers Arnaldo and Siya they managed to gently...
The meeting was very well attended with 130 members and visitors present. The Chairman Ted Gilfillan opened the meeting by extending a warm welcome to all members and visitors. Apologies: Audrey Barnard, Tom Lawless, James Trubshaw, Verity Hawarden, Peter O’Connor,...
You will have read in our AGM minutes that approval was given to change our Constitution to reflect the name of our organization from Bushman’s Kariega Estuary Care Management Forum to Boesmans Kariega Estuary Care Management Forum. This...
Chris Nair delivered a presentation on the Sustainability of the Bulk Water Supply to the Kenton on Sea and Boesmans areas. The presentation covered the background on the role of Amatola Water in the provision of bulk water supply to the area, the challenges in...
Doran Herringer and his team of volunteers undertook a clean-up of the Boesmans estuary on Sunday 30 December 2018 sponsored by The Sandbar Floating Restaurant and The Diner on the Square Restaurant. Doran reports that ‘Alan Louw's barge was used with...
On the morning of 7th January 2019, a small very tired penguin was found off Middle Beach Kenton on Sea. Tired but still plucky trying to snap at any finger nearby. After a few calls the penguin chick was on its way and by 11h00 it was safe at Sanccob in Port...
On the 28th January 2019 at 06:00 Deon Nel, a visitor from Pretoria staying with the Crandons, was swimming in the waves between Middle and Main Beach. Whilst wading through the waves amongst the regular Wave Warriors, he felt something attach itself around his...
Dave Curran has organized and coordinated a most successful programme to transport the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) rangers up the two estuaries and he reports that
Look out for the new Estuary Care signs at the Kariega & Boesmans slipways and at the Kenton Marina. It came to our attention that signage at both slipways was out of date. Using the map of the two estuaries from the old Boat Licence Guide, we designed new...
Bill Northrop and his team have been maintaining signage in both estuaries throughout the year. They are particularly busy now in preparation for the holiday season. We have no doubt that this vital work is greatly appreciated by all who use the estuaries. Thank...
Estuary Care is becoming increasingly concerned about ooze from septic tanks and overflowing conservancy tanks, belonging to private homes situated along the banks of both estuaries, running into the estuaries. We have measured very high levels of pollution along...
In early October we had a visit at the Kenton slipway of a large healthy puffadder which had evidently swum across the estuary. Thank you to Fred Joubert for the photos below And in November an elephant was filmed crossing the Kariega estuary near the causeway....
During the September equinox very high seas were experienced along our coast. This caused huge tidal surges in both estuaries. Fortunately, no damage was reported and we are proud that the Boesmans jetty, which Chester repaired earlier this year, stood up to the...
As this newsletter is being prepared (29 August 2018) Lewis Pugh a South African endurance swimmer has just completed his 530km swim from Land’s End in Cornwall to Dover in Kent to raise awareness about the health of the worlds oceans.
The 2018 Rhino Run will be held on 16 September. Look out for Estuary Care committee members, identified by our new bibs, helping at this event.
On the 28 July at about 10:30 in the morning Chris & Lisette Ovens were walking near the mouth on the Kasouga side of the Kariega Estuary when they saw a Southern Right whale rolling around just behind the waves.
Ncumisa Mziza from Sustainable Seas Trust told us that in marking World Oceans Day 2018 SST staff in partnership with staff from Sibuya Game Reserve transported 25 learners and two teachers from Klipfontein Primary School...
Nick Albrightson, with the assistance of Human Ntwani is undertaking repairs to the path from the Kariega bridge up to Anglers Way in Ekuphumleni. As you see Human is sporting one of our new branded bibs. The Committee decided that to give our activities a higher...
Does anybody have an idea what would cause these tracks in the sand found at low tide on the Boesmans estuary? Send your suggestions to...
Thank you to the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity for the magnificent and very interesting poster. Click the button below to open the poster. You will need to zoom to read the text. Click here to visit the SAIAB...
Much is being written about plastic pollution in our rivers, estuaries, dams, lakes and particularly in our oceans. It is estimated that 12 million tonnes of plastic gets dumped into our oceans every year and from the ocean surface to our deep oceans it is having a...
It states on their website that South Africa is confronted with numerous socio economic problems, including poverty, inadequate housing, sanitation & water supply to name but a few. The problems have resulted in a rapid decline in environmental management and...
Once again we were pleased with the attendance at our Annual General Meeting.
There were two floats in December. The first one on Wednesday 27th December was from Bell’s Cove to the mouth and as anticipated was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by floaters and spectators. The second float, which as usual drew a very large crowd, was on...
It’s a Horse Mussel Atrina Squamifera. Atrina squamifera, one of several species known as the horse mussel, is a species of bivalve pen shell. It is a marine mollusc in the family Pinnidae and is endemic to South Africa. This species is found from Saldanha Bay to...
You will recall from an article What is a Nurdle in our December 2017 newsletter that there was a horrendous spill of these small non-biodegradable plastic pellets into the Durban harbour in October last year. Sky News provides more information. Sadly Nurdles are...
Thank you Dennis Laubscher for the interesting visuals on the Dry Bones Valley Dune migration.
This article, published in The Economist, may be long but it is well worth the read. It is a sobering account of the scourge of plastic in our oceans and will make us think of what can I do about it? For a start become conscious of when and how you are using...
Bill Northrop and his volunteers continue to update and upgrade signage and channel markers in both estuaries. This was particularly necessary after our huge tidal surges towards the end of August.
Chester Wilmot has undertaken remedial construction work on slipways and on both jetties. Daphne McNeil and her team of Human and Nicholas Albrightson and under Chester’s guidance, despite soft misty rain, repaired the towpath on the east bank of the Boesmans...
Peter Reed will continue to manage water testing in both estuaries. Click here to read an article from our June Newsletter on Sewage Solutions. We hope it will encourage homeowners along the banks of our estuaries to invest in a more efficient sewage disposal...
We, together with Bushman’s River Ratepayers Organisation, continue to contact Amatola Water with the request that they share the costs of repairs to the rotting Gabion baskets that hold the rocks which make up the wall on the western bank of the Boesmans...
We sent an email to our members in early September advising of Ndlambe Municipality’s boat mooring regulations in the Boesmans Estuary. The regulations actually apply to both sides of the estuary. This issue is out of our hands and all queries should be addressed...
Estuary Care members and concerned members of the public have expressed rising concern at the ever increasing sedimentation occurring in the Boesmans Estuary as well as the dune advancing up Dry Bones Valley. Below is an edited version of the reply from Mr Tim...
We have noted that the mounds of flood-deposited rubble on the west bank of the Boesmans Estuary are diminishing, particularly after the recent high tides. You might recall that the initiative to have these mounds removed was stopped last year by the Public Service...
We reported in our June 2017 Newsletter that Estuary Care has identified an opportunity to partner with The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). The program has been running with 8 volunteers currently active. The role of volunteers is a...
Once again we thank Doran Herringer for what he says was ‘a successful morning picking up plastic and debris in the Bushmansriver between the two bridges. We filled 15 bags and removed many poles and planks floating in the river, from broken jetties. A big thanks...
Some of our committee members assisted the organizers of the annual Rhino Run which was held on 24 September. By all accounts it was a happy and successful occasion For more about the Rhino Run click...
On 10th October 2017 during a massive storm in Durban a container ship in the harbour lost its mooring. As a consequence one of its damaged containers fell into the harbour and 100’s of millions of ‘nurdles’, which are very small plastic pellets were washed into...
Plastic Waste in our seas News about the amount of litter entering the seas, particularly plastic waste, is hitting the headlines with increasing frequency. There is justifiable cause for concern. Conservative estimates are that 350kgs of plastic is entering...
Did you know? Africa is the second-most polluted continent in the world and is rapidly becoming worse. Millions of animals (whales, dolphins, turtles, birds, seals) drawn from more than 260 different species, are killed each year by the plastic they’re entangled in...
It’s time to renew your annual subscription. Up to 2014, Estuary Care sold boat licences on behalf of Ndlambe Municipality, earning a net amount of around R50,000 per annum which was ploughed back together with subs, into maintenance of facilities on the...
It was recently pointed out to the Committee that the registered and official name of Bushman’s Village is Boesmansriviermond. The name of the estuary is Boesmansrivier (and not Bushman’s river) Without a change to our Constitution we cannot change the name of...
As mentioned in our June 2017 Newsletter local members of Estuary Care are working with The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in providing transport to DAFF Rangers up the two estuaries by boat to check on fishing and bait issues. Dave Curran...
Dr Dennis Laubscher, a retired Mining Consultant living in Boesmansriviermond, has been following the movement of the dunes along Boesmans beach for many years. He has kindly given us permission to include his recent article in our Newsletter. Thank you Dennis for...
Storm surges towards the end of August resulted in huge seas battering our coastline causing scouring of sand along Boesmans beach and between Middle beach and Main beach. Damage was caused to stone walls at the Middle beach car park and at the Kariega grassy braai...
This Group is made up of representatives from different organisations and the aim is to facilitate communication about current events. The following organisations are involved: Estuary Care To assist with and advise on the formulation and implementation of...
It’s business as usual for various members of the Estuary Care Committee. Bill Northrop is checking and resetting channel markers in both estuaries. In order to accommodate the ever changing channels, particularly in the lower reaches of the estuaries, he will be...
Would you like to know how marine scientists will be able to improve their knowledge of how the Agulhas Current influences the coastal regions along South Africa’s eastern shores? [button...
Many of you might have been wondering about the purpose of the scouring pads bolted to the rocks near Blue Pool on Middle Beach. The scouring pads belong to Olwethu Duna a Rhodes PhD candidate student who is based at the South African institute for Aquatic...
At the meeting held on Saturday 3 June to find a way to protect Kenton’s remaining wildlife, one message came through clearly: Prevention is more effective than apprehension and prosecution. This is so for several reasons: In recent years poaching in the Eastern...
We mentioned the ‘Estuary Care Guide Book’ in our June 2016 Newsletter. Here is an update from Dr Tony Ribbink as well as information on the forthcoming African Marine Waste Conference, which SST is hosting. Estuary Care and Sustainable Seas Trust (SST) are...
The Kariega Estuary clean-up planned for World Oceans Day on the 8 June was postponed due to inclement weather. It took place on Thursday 15 June. Ncumisa Mzaza, SST’s Education Officer reported that: ‘To celebrate our oceans for World Ocean Day, SST and Sibuya...
Ncumisa went on to tell us about SST’s activities on World Environmental Day which was on Monday 5 June. She says: ‘To celebrate our incredible planet we visited the Vezukhanyo Creche to plant indigenous trees and shrubs kindly donated by About Nature Scaping and...
We had a record attendance with great interest shown in the topics of our invited speakers. We will let you have information as and when it becomes available. Below are the Minutes of our Annual General Meeting which was held on 23 December 2016.
Once again this proved to be a popular and ever growing occasion with floating crafts of all shapes, sizes, types and colours. It must be noted that this event does not fall within the auspices of Estuary Care.
Mark Dixon, the Conservation Officer for the Ndlambe area informs us that on the 24 December a large turtle presumably laid its eggs on Middle Beach towards the blue pool corner. Evidently it was a Leatherback Turtle. By the time he got to the beach the turtle was...
Professor Nadine Strydom – winner of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s Researcher of the Year Award – is Africa’s leading expert on “little fish”, and a regular pioneer of new technologies in her field. Her speciality – a scarce skill worldwide – is...
