GEOGE NEWS - The torrential rain on Monday 22 November caused not only organic debris to flush down to the beaches, but also masses of litter.
Pierre Theron, a resident of Ballot's Bay who has been lobbying for a cleaner Meul River free from sewage, says the beach is now covered in litter for the second time in a week.
"We had an initial clean-up after the floods a week ago, but masses of litter keep on flushing down the river to the beach. The problem we face is that squatters are occupying land illegally all along the lower parts of the river that is impossible to service," he says.
The lovely, secluded little bay has been in the news frequently for years because of sewage spills in the Meul River that land up on the beach and in the sea.
The situation worsened because of Eskom's load shedding implementation, which caused the Meul pump station to stop pumping, leading to raw sewage flowing into the river.
After ongoing pressure for years from Theron and others, George Municipality installed a generator at the pump station about a month ago. Theron said the sewage is less now.
"But everything smells bad down here with all the dead marine life in the water - mussels, limpet and red bait all mixed into the sea water. It's truly a horrible smell."
This is about 300m away from Ballot's Bay towards Victoria Bay. The entire stretch is “a complete disaster” and it all washed down with the Meul River, says Pierre Theron.
Ella Theron (10) on the beach on Monday 22 November. This litter was cleaned up, and a week later, more had washed down the Meul River.
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