Cape Town: The Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town is proud to announce the establishment of the Eerste or Kuils River Catchment Management Forum (EKR CMF) following its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. It is one of the largest catchments in Cape Town, consisting of the Eerste and Kuils rivers as well as five other tributary rivers and watercourses.
The main purpose of the EKR CMF is to promote the community-driven initiatives that aims at improving the condition of polluted rivers and their surrounding environment. Multiple stakeholders residing or working in the area, are operating businesses and are conducting industrial or agricultural activities in and around the catchment that are invited to become members of the forum.
As per sources, the objective is to find solutions which help in reducing urban pollution that are ending up in rivers, canals and waterbodies, working together with the City of Cape Town. The meeting will be crucial as elections of the office bearers will take place for the positions of chairperson, vice chairperson and the secretariat.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said that once the chairperson and office bearers are appointed, he will look forward to inviting the executive of the EKR CMF for a river walk to see first-hand challenges that are experienced in the catchment.
Moreover, the establishment of the forum marks a significant step forward in the strategic commitment towards improving inland water quality through community engagement. Badroodien and his team are setting up such fora in various catchments as a platform for various stakeholders to tackle the pollution of the waterways by working collaboratively.
Catchment Area of the Meeting includes:
- The Eerste River flows largely outside of the boundaries of the City of Cape Town, entering in the the city in its lower reaches where it joins its major tributary, the Kuils River. These rivers pass through Macassar, Sandvlei, Kuils River, Brachenfell, Driftsands, Faure, Forest Village, Mfuleni, Blue Downs, Rotterdam, Wesbank, Kalkfontein, Brackenfell, Durbanville and many more suburbs that contribute to the catchment via the stormwater system.
- The catchment falls within the 37 wards and eight sub-councils, that covers a total area of 652 km sq. And comprises of five rivers and watercourses – Kuils River, Bottelary River, Eerste River, Kleinvlei Canal, and a formalised canal that drains the Blue Downs area nd the Helderspruit River.
- In 2024, the directorate compiled a comprehensive Pollution Abatement Strategy and Action Plan (PASAP). It provides an overview of the Kuils River catchment and the ambient water quality of its waterways, that identifies the main pollution sources and provides a strategic approach and action plan to address pollution.