Cape Town: The City wants to inform the public that the dredging of Zeekoevlei in the False Bay Nature Reserve is progressing well. The dredger is now operating from Home Bay, after the dredging of Storm Bay was concluded last month with 207,000m³ of sediment being removed from this section of the vlei.
The City of Cape Town further commenced with its first vlei dredging in 42 years on June 30, 2025. It began when a floating suction dredger and a team of 15 personnel started operations at the Storm Bay section of Zeekoevlei that is located in the False Bay Nature Reserve.
Since then, the floating dredger has been operating from Storm Bay for about 10 months where up to 207,000m³ of sediment have been dredged. The work in this section of the vlei is now complete.
Earlier this month, the dredger was moved to Home Bay to commence with the dredging of 157,000m³ of sediment. If all goes as planned, the dredging project should be concluded early in 2027.
Deputy Mayor and Member of the Mayoral Committee for Spatial Planning and Environment – Alderman Eddie Andrews stated that the dredging of Zeekoevlei is a key investment and delivers on the commitment to restore, improve and protect the vleis. With the dredging, they are removing the sediment that has accumulated over time and reduced nutrient build-up that contributes to poor water quality.
Home Bay is further from the dewatering site, the contractor had to install an additional 2000m of pipeline, as well as a booster pump.
Considering this, Alderman Andrews stated that the dredger is moored with 2.5-ton concrete mooring blocks. All 16 mooring blocks were moved from Storm Bay to Home Bay during the relocation to this section of the vlei.
The dredger itself was disconnected from the pipeline in Storm Bay and towed to Home Bay with a support vessel. This operation and the preparations for the dredging of the second section took about three weeks to complete.
Notably, the City of Cape Town thanked all the residents of Zeekoevlei for their patience and ongoing support during this operation.