- A no-spray pilot project to eliminate pesticide use from municipal roadside spraying has been rolled out in Noordhoek and Scarborough, in a quest to use sustainable alternatives for weed control.
- Noordhoek has become the first suburb in Cape Town to receive an exemption from the City of Cape Town herbicide spray schedule for an initial three-year period.
- Spearheaded by the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG), non-profit organisation (NPO) UnPoison, and Ward 61 councillor Simon Leill-Cock, the trial was rolled out in January.
A no-spray pilot project to eliminate pesticide use from municipal roadside spraying has been rolled out in Noordhoek and Scarborough, in a quest to use sustainable alternatives for weed control.
Noordhoek has become the first suburb in Cape Town to receive an exemption from the City of Cape Town herbicide spray schedule for an initial three-year period.
Spearheaded by the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG), non-profit organisation (NPO) UnPoison, and Ward 61 councillor Simon Leill-Cock, the trial was rolled out in January.
UnPoison network coordinator Anna Shevel said the initiative has two highly impactful benefits with sustainable development goals.
“The first is preventing pesticides that have been proven to harm the environment, contaminate water and pose serious health risks for humans, other mammals, insects, invertebrates and aquatic life from entering the environment.”
The initial trial took place in the middle of January, with a group of civil society testing alternative methods for weed control.
Last month, a team was selected to replace pesticide spraying with manual weed control.
Liell-Cock explained the pilot project was green-lighted after concerns were raised regarding the use of pesticides in 2021.
“Following concerns raised by members of the public, the City’s transport portfolio began investigating the pros and cons of the use of Glyphosate for weed control.
“Prior to 2021, when Alderman Felicity Purchase was Mayco Member for Transport, and following concerns raised by members of the public, the City’s transport portfolio began investigating the pros and cons of, and alternatives to, the use of glyphosate for weed control.”
At the time, a meeting was arranged with the Executive Director of Transport for the City to halt spraying in Noordhoek.
Said Liell-Cock: “When Purchase and I were approached by NEAG in 2021, we arranged a meeting with the executive director for transport and her team, and at that meeting, an agreement was reached that the City would halt all spraying in a defined area in Noordhoek on condition that NEAG came up with a pilot project to identify alternatives and prove the concept.”
If deemed successful, the project could be rolled out to other suburbs across Cape Town.
“The goal is to prove that we have an effective and financially sustainable alternative to the use of Glyphosate that creates jobs,” Liell-Cock said.
“I am confident we will achieve this and then we will be able to roll out the project to more areas, especially environmentally sensitive water bodies and wetlands.”
He added that the key to the proposal was collaborating with NGOs who could provide the necessary drive and supervisory support for small groups of workers.
“We are blessed with a number of passionate and active NGOs in Noordhoek who are driving this pilot, such as NEAG, UnPoison and Project Noordhoeked.
“NEAG initiated the pilot and provided expert input while Unpoison is driving the search for alternatives, and Project Noordhoeked is doing the work on the ground.”
Project NoordHoeked currently manages four workers maintaining roads in Noordhoek while doing manual mechanical clearing.
Shevel explained: “The intention is that once the pilot has been shown to be successful the City of Cape Town will revise its policies and eliminate pesticides from its road maintenance schedule.
“Such a move would be entirely in line with its biodiversity goals as well as its responsibility to its citizens for a safe, poison-free environment.”
The project signals a win for the environment and a potential boost for green sector employment, she added.
“Products containing the active ingredient glyphosate have been sprayed bi-annually on roadsides and verges around Cape Town.
“Once applied, these pesticides wash off hard surfaces and flow into water bodies, which they contaminate, affecting the web of life within those eco-systems.”
Extensive literature exists on the harms of glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide on the planet, Shevel pointed out.
“Consumers need to know that studies have only been carried out on the active ingredient glyphosate alone.
“No studies are available from Monsanto, Bayer or any other manufacturers on the formulations of their products that have other ingredients besides glyphosate, and hundreds of these products are being sold by different manufacturers under different brand names.
“That means the product as is sold to consumers and has never been tested, nor has it had trials conducted to determine the effect these ingredients have collectively on human or environmental health.”
Currently, a City of Cape Town tender is in place for spraying herbicides to control weeds on hard surfaces such as roads, road reserves and sidewalks.
