Volunteers help clean the polluted Jukskei River "prone" to flash floods
In South Africa’s oldest township, volunteers in wetsuits jump into the thigh-deep water of the polluted Jukskei River to untangle a net that's designed to trap garbage but damaged by heavy rains.
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00:00Just a few days before the G20 summit in South Africa, some volunteers have begun cleaning the main river, which is prone to pollution.
00:09In this South Africa's oldest township of Alexandria, volunteers help clean the riverbeds and the surrounding areas.
00:18Our presence here is very beneficial to the community because there is no longer a lot of litter.
00:23In some places we try to remove weeds and place bricks by the riverbanks since gabion baskets have not yet been put up.
00:31But we try to place bricks in a way that it protects sharks on the riverbanks.
00:36Also, us being here, the last time we managed to save a child's life who's currently in hospital and doing well.
00:42Some of the volunteers in wetsuits jumped into the Thai deep water of the polluted Jusuke River to untangle a net that's designed to trap garbage but damaged by heavy rains.
00:57Without the nets, the sharks in low-lying Alexandria on the outskirts of Johannesburg could face disastrous flooding.
01:05With half the dirt and the pollution, especially in the river and on the riverbanks, if we didn't have the garbage trap in the water or even us working here collecting rubbish, I don't think you'd like the sight of this place.
01:21It would be polluted in such a way that you would be disgusted by what you see.
01:25Alexandria, with over half a million residents, is within steps of South Africa's richest financial district, Santon, but rising flood on sub-barges, bridges, leaving the township children unable to reach school.
01:38We, as the water warriors, are trying our best without debris management, without urban greening activities, education and awareness activities, and the recycling, repurposing, and reusing of the waste that we find in the river and turning it into cash, like something that we can make something of.
01:59World leaders from the group of 20 rich and developing nations will meet this weekend in Johannesburg for the Bloch's first summit in Africa.
02:06The whole South Africa wants to prioritize issues affecting poor countries, including climate change.
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