Northern Areas

The identification and protection of biodiversity areas is critical to the long-term viability of naturally occurring bird populations.

The mountain range and its surroundings are home to a number of special Red Data listed species like the Cape Vulture, Black Stork, White-backed Night Heron, African Finfood, Half-collared Kingfisher and African Black Duck.

Below the mountain, the Hartbeespoort Dam is a haven for waterfowl and waders, included White Pelicans that sometimes visit the deeper waters. The dense stands of Blue Gums in Meerhof are home to Black and Ovambo Sparrowhawks, Spotted Eagle-Owl and other owl species.

The Magaliesberg Mountain Range hosts two Cape Vulture colonies and one or two breeding pairs of Blue Cranes. Secretarybirds still occasionally occur in the grasslands.

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The Magaliesberg Blue Crane project is aimed at educating the public about the plight of the species, and protecting the last two breeding pairs in the region.

Top facilities have been created to enable members and the public to view the endangered Cape Vulture in its natural mountain habitat and at close quarters when visiting the feeding area.

ARMOUR’s first success was lobbying for emergency funding from Joburg Water (JW) for urgent maintenance of Northern Waste Water Treatment Works (NW) in late 2015, to deal with constant sewerage flows into the Jukskei River.

The outcome was concerted action to stop this pollution and the formation of the Jukskei River Working Group, which meets regularly with Joburg Water (JW) to identify and monitor problems at the wastewater-Jukskei River interface.

Since then, ARMOUR has focused on three areas:

1. Building a fast response system with JW for identification and repair of sewerage leaks.
2. Promoting civil society’s co-responsibility for water stewardship by sharing information through a variety of electronic media.
3. Seeking innovative approaches to waste water management by interacting with the Water Research Commission and Prof Chris Curtis of the Wits University Centre in Water Research and Development (CiWaRD) to enable master’s students to do research on the many facets contributing to the pollution of our waterways.

An active committee meets regularly and is now planning to extend ARMOUR’s footprint to the Hennops River, part of the northern catchment area that ends up feeding the hyacinth in Hartbeespoort Dam.

The Committee, which considers itself ‘A Voice for Water’ consist of:

• Anthony Duigan, formerly of Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy and Greenbelt Action Group
• Helen Duigan, former Chair of Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy
• Willem Hazewindus, formerly Regional Chair of WESSA Northern Areas
• Mark McClue, Chartwell Conservancy
• John du Plessis, professional engineer
• Willem Snyman, founder of FRESH (Fountains & Rivers Environmental Sanctuary Hennops)

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