Margate FLASH FLOOD! In another mighty display of nature’s anger at the system, Margate on the lower south coast of KZN received an absolute hammering last night. With a fantastic accompanying light and sound show – the storm was extremely intense. But, not lucky for Margate, but lucky for the rest of us, the storm concentrated on the beautiful coastal town.
Update: lives have been lost and we sympathise with families and loved ones.
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The Umzimkulu River that runs onto the ocean at Port Shepstone (20 kms north) never even came down. It is calm and serene this morning (15 April 2024) as it has been for the past few weeks. The kingfish are back by the way. And the water is ginger beer, not too dirty at all for fishing.
No Swimming!
However, this water is absolutely no good for swimming in. It will get into your ears and give the most diabolical ear infection you could imagine. And if it gets up your nose you could end up with a staph infection in the brain. And if you get wounded and your open would comes into contact with this water, you might lose that limb.
This is because for all the years of load shedding, the Harding sewerage works upriver, has been failing. And failing. The sewage of the entire town runs into the Umzimkulwana River. Which runs into the Umzimkulu River right at the exact point where Port Shepstone’s drinking water is extracted from.
This sewage is untreated and contained in it are all the drugs and medicines that people have been taking. Anti-retrovirals. Oestregen. Anti-biotics…you name it. If you take it, it goes into the nearest river these days (directly due to load-shedding).
And in this same sewage, are also the pathogens and bad acting bacteria, viruses and the like. Which the drugs are meant to counter. But, and it’s a huge BUT. If you allow these evil pathogens to interact with the drugs that are meant to kill them, they will develop immunity. Becoming superbugs. Like the things that will get you in any public hospital here in South Africa. Superbugs develop in hospitals for the exact same reason. They are allowed to interact with the available medicines and become immune.
We are playing with fire by allowing any of this to continue. And the fact that load-shedding has been turned off, really begs the question…
Did the ANC do this on purpose all along? Or are they this inept?
And what really superbugs me, are the colluders. Who work with the devil and actively promote our coast as a tourist destination with safe bathing beaches. When they should be doing everything in their power to be rid of the ANC and the problems they have created since their rule.
Staphylococcus Warning December 2023: it has happened again. A popular and highly experienced Southern KZN angler was recently struck down. At Seapark. He was on the rocks, where he has spent most of his life. Got a tiny cut on his foot. Happened a thousand times before. Except this time, the smell of the ANC was in the air.
Loadshedding
The sewage was pouring raw and untreated, into the ocean, just nearby. Our guy smelt the sewage. But he was on a mission trying to catch live bait.
He has now lost his foot.
This happened lightning-fast. Staphylococcus is mean stuff. You need to be vigilant at ALL times. Clean and disinfect any cut or scratch thoroughly. As it happens. Especially now at this time of the year. That the rains have come. And all the sewage in and around dysfunctional Harding is swept right to here. By the Umzimkulwana River.
Load-shedding is manslaughter now. It’s a crime against every single one of us. Who used to use the ocean, rivers and dams, for recreation as kids and even adults. And for supplying us, the population, with clean drinking water.
What load-shedding has done, and therefore directly the ANC, is turned the entire country into an open toilet. With deadly results.
Check this out…
Upriver
Since everybody’s attention, including the Public Protector and the President, has been brought to the Harding problem, NOTHING has improved. ZERO. Sewage flows in the streets. Into the stormwater drains. And into the Farmers Dam and the Umzimkulwana River, on its merry way, laden thick with eColi and all sorts of pathogens. And bugs that have been festering in the Farmer’s Dam through the dry season. All of that, is on it’s merry way to the beaches of the KZN South Coast. Right now. Just as the hapless ANC victims – the tourists, arrive. To ZERO warnings.
This has been happening for many years now.
Blue Water Only
Do not go in murky water. No matter what beach you go to, if the water is even slightly discoloured, stay out of it. Luckily there are some beaches without pathogen-infested river mouths too close by. Like Umzumbe. And Hibberdene. Those beaches are the ones in the right location in the current and on the coast, to be reliably cleaner than all the others.
Uvongo and Margate, are right in the firing line. The sewage comes out of the rivers, mixes lekker in the waves, and gets taken south by the prevailing Agulhas Current. The onshore blows, and this contaminated water is pushed into the bays and coves (Uvongo in particular, has a very unfortunate geographical structure where this bad water gets trapped in that cove). RIght onto the unsuspecting tourists who receive ZERO warning about the dire state of the ocean right now as the rainy season fires up. Underberg, Hardind, Umzimkulu – ALL discharging straight into the Umzimkulu and Umzimkulwana Rivers. The same rivers our drinking water comes from?!
There are ZERO signs warning anyone anywhere. And then we have organisations and individuals far more engaged in the profit that they can make from the tourists, than caring for the tourist’s well-being and health. Advertising Blue Flag beaches and the like. Yet in the meantime, people are getting sick more and more. From exposure to the ANC government failures. A season or two back, I had 23 of 24 guests in hospital. From swimming in Uvongo Lagoon. Not one warning sign. Not even the lifeguards cared or bothered to warn these victims.
Imagine you go to a lodge someplace. And you head for the pool. But the pool is poisoned…and nobody warns you?!
Fast treatment
Staphylococcus is mean. Sometimes even completely resistant to treatment (MRSA). You need to clean any wounds, no matter how small, properly. Scrub. Disinfect. As and when they happen.
It is so complicated in that we all have Staphylococcus on our skins and in our membranes. All of us. But it’s when too much Staphylococcus gathers together, that it takes over the delicate balance that the body has. In effect, we can actually get sick from our own Staphylococcus. If we don’t wash. Treat wounds properly.
So you get a lesion. Your own Staphylococcus is there already but checked by the immune system. Then you overdose the wound with sewage-born Staphylococcus. And there you have it. You are in big trouble already. This stuff is going to try kill you. Seek treatment fast!
You literally don’t have time to do anything else except care for your wound. Minutes make a difference.
And it’s not limited to here in KZN. It’s wherever there is failed sewage infrastructure or too many animals defecating near or in the rivers. Wherever too much sewage is discharged unchecked into the environment. That’s where Staphylococcus is waiting for you.
Loadshedding does this. Every day. Every town. In the whole country.
Attempted manslaughter at the very least. And grand misconduct considering ZERO consideration for the visiting tourists. The lifeblood of our economy.
Margate Pier Commercials? Recently we received a particularly disturbing letter from a concerned angler, in the Margate area.
“To Whom it concerns This is a concern to our environment, the Margate pier has become a fishing criminal hot spot. The people fishing there do not have any idea of how they are ruining the fish food chain. Some of the fish are becoming extinct but the people are not able to understand that, they have 10 to 15 rods out with live bait they are catching 5 to 6 garirck a day. Not 1 person is considerate enough to put 1 or 2 back into the ocean. The same people are there every day. What is being done with all this fish that is being caught ? Some people are going home with more than their limit in plain sight. Where are the daff people? Fights are being put up if you not in a certain group that is there, overfishing space. Is that not a place for the public to fish? Why is it only that 1 fishing group there they have taken over the pier and if you not in their team they cause unnecessary problems or fights to make you leave. I wish for something to be done about this cause this is absolutely ridiculous.” From: Mr Concerned
It’s a great relief when people out there take notice and do something about it. like Mr. Concerned here.
The result is that our friends at DAFF, will receive this too, and will act on it. However, DAFF would not know what was going on, if Mr. Concerned hadn’t sent in his letter. The limited resources and weird working restrictions placed on DAFF means that they are spread far and wide. And need all the help they can get.
Poachers are ruthless, especially since they may just be making cold cash with their activities. However. The selling of fish in this country is illegal. Unless you have a permit. No recreational anglers are allowed to sell fish. This is to protect the resource. To conserve for generations to come. Yes, all those little babies being born right now. They deserve a shot at a garrick too.
Lawless land
Unfortunately, our favourite jailbird and his cronies had not only a damaging effect on our country’s reputation and economy whilst they were on pillage duty. But also the environment. The firing of Ezimvelo happened under this fool’s watch. And the results have been devastating.
A new, lawless culture was essentially put into effect…
The wetlands at Sodwana Bay, being planted with bananas?! Upsetting the balance in an important and fragile ecosystem that is a coastal wetland. In such a beautiful place?! This place was supposed to be under Ezimvelos care. Even the resort has gone to the dogs.
There are gill nets in EVERY estuary and it’s only up to concerned locals to take them out. Often at the risk of harm or violence.
The Kwazulu Natal Sharks Board still kills marine wildlife for a living, and is paid for with taxpayer money (ok not so relevant but it feels right to mention anywhere I can)
Public projects are steamrolled forward by politicians chasing trains with no public consultation or environmental consideration
Sand is mined from delicate ecosystems rampantly, illegally, leaving scars all over the beautiful ‘Kei, for example.
You can literally catch as many shad as you want these days. Nobody is coming to check. Firstly there is no Ezimvelo, only a skelton staff of DAFF personnel. You don’t even need a license anymore. And even if you want one, the post offices down on the coast here, ARE ALL CLOSED due to non-payment of rent and contracts.
This list has literally no end these days…
The reasons why
It was in 2016 that a totally functional and effective Ezimvelo was sidelined. Political pressure from subsistence fishermen in the KZN North Coast area began holding too much water. There were toi-tois in Mtubatuba. And Ezimvelo were summarily fired. For doing their job too well. The ball sloppily handed to a totally untrained and inefficient DAFF. Putting them in embarrassing situations as they grappled with their newfound task. They arrested the wrong people. They didn’t even know the fish species and the limits.
But they have since risen to this daunting challenge. And we as anglers, now have a role to play. In this mission left to us by the soon to be doomed ANC. DAFF need to be assisted, not ridiculed, as they move forwards with their objectives. The onus lies squarely on us the anglers, to help enforce the rules, that will put our kids into nice fish. And so we have the DAFF contact details available for your right at the bottom of this post. To report suspicious activities.
If you do this, like Mr.Concerned above, the DAFF dudes WILL pitch up. You may not see them, they work in plain clothes a lot.
But, they will be there.
What happened to Ezimvelo?
And in a totally predictable twist of fate, the entire Ezimvelo board has been summarily sacked. The board that took over Ezimvelo in 2016 or so (they were still tasked with many responsibilities in the KZN wetlands and parks, and some helped themselves to the huge budget – in the form of fencing contracts and the usual like) really pulled it through their proverbial bums. Since the new administration of this country has started examining the worms old jailbird let out, it’s been ugly.
Mr. Paul Dutton, who resigned from Ezimvelo, in objection to the boards dodgy practises a while back, had this to say…
Retired game ranger and former manager of Ndumo Game Reserve Paul Dutton said the firing of the board was “good news” as its performance had been “disgusting”.
“They have kept conservation in the doldrums and didn’t go out of their way to raise money to keep the reserves going. I am not surprised they fired the board, it should have been done years ago. I am very glad they have fired the board but they must select a good board,” he said.
So that’s what happened to Ezimvelo. They were so damned good at their job not even 5 years ago They knew every poacher and their operations. At every beach. By name. And address!
Nowadays, well without whistleblowers, it’s a free-for-all.
And you can’t even expect below average service at any of their resorts anymore.
DAFF Contact Details
There are a few things to consider, before becoming the Snowden of fishing conservation. Firstly, you should not ever take a picture or video, of someone conducting a crime, and post it. Unbelievably, the law protects the criminal in this case. And if the deed was posted publicly, they can use this to get off with!
Secondly, the DAFF guys are spread thin. Please do not call and call for anything and everything. In fact, rather, as Mr. Concerned did, send the information with as much detail as possible, to us here at The Sardine News. You see, we are allowed to publish the material as news, and we can protect our sources. Once we publish, the DAFF guys will move in and do their thing. And the material can then be entered as evidence.
Just recently, a mob of cast-netters teamed up and combed the St. Mikes estuary flatsticks. They started at the beach and herded every fish up into the extreme shallows. Where they were easy pickings. The problem? These guys were only after mullet. And they killed hundreds of other less suitable little fish for live-bait. The information came into us, we sent it to the DAFF HQ, it was then forwarded to the local agent. Who was there in minutes. He confronted the netters, who all had licenses (there were over 13 of these idiots working together). Since they were doing nothing technical illegal, he warned them not to net like this. Told them to not top kill fish unnecessarily. And that was that.
Mydo Lures are happy to announce that their availability of their fishing tackle in Margate, South Africa, is on the increase.
The Craft Shop, an institution down on the lower south coast of KZN Natal, has been stocking a locally focused range of fishing tackle in Margate and boating items, for decades. They even got outboard motors for sale!
And now they stock The Mydo too!
The fishing tackle section of The Craft Store is run by angler Mervyn, who has the backup of Mnr. Steyn, with many years of fishing and boating the south coast waters. The Mydos available at Craft are – the lively Luck Shot jigheads, the SS Spoon range and Mydo Baitswimmers. Each lure with it’s own application suited to the fishing challenges and opportunities that the south coast beat has to offer.
The boating section inside The Craft Store, is thorough. From lifejackets to propellors to fittings to…everything you need for safe boating and your seaworthy certificate.
Prices are great and the service is excellent!
BTW – The Craft Shop is a full on hardware store actually. That also features an art department and more. It’s a bit of an all-in-one place. Just make some time to make a visit by and get through all those aisles!
To get to The Craft Shop, follow this easy map…
You can get in touch with The Craft Shop via Facebook too…where you can see just why they are such a huge hit with the people of the KZN Natal South Coast.
Margate Beach taken over by small fry…by Jay Steenkamp
Jay Steenkamp, our on the spot Go Pro specialist, reports that whilst surfing Margate (?) the other day, the backline was inundated with these cool looking little fishies. What they are is still a mystery at this point. Jay and the staff (ha ha) of thesardine.co.za are trying to find out and we will keep you posted.
