“If we all do a little, together we can do a lot…” This is the principle of Dion Mostert who has tackled the removal of salvinia and remaining hyacinth on the Hartbeespoort Dam which has now spurred other entities to join the fight against the invasive weeds on the Dam.

Dion, the owner of the Harties Boat Company, started removing the weeds and rubbish on the dam about two months ago. “I just decided one day I am going to take the weeds out. I started doing it to show people that if everyone does a little bit, we can do a lot instead of waiting to see if someone else does it. And it was great to see how suddenly other people joined in,” he said.

Dion and his team work from Tuesday to Friday every week, scooping up salvinia, hyacinth and refuse on the dam and taking it to shore. They currently remove about 100 big refuse bags per day and have already taken out about 2 000 bags of the weeds and refuse.

“Pecanwood, Key West and The Coves also joined in. Pecanwood are scooping the weeds in their harbour and have already taken out tons of weeds with a TLB with an adapted scoop. It is fantastic that people have started working together. I have had offers of donations, but I don’t want money, people are welcome to pay staff or send workers to assist. Westlake and Kosmos residents are already contributing to paying for workers.”

Dion says he will continue with the project until all the weeds are gone. “And once they start growing again, we will start again. The main thing is just to get the motion going. We can beat the invasion if we all do a little bit.”