36 625 dead fish removed from Nqweba Dam

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GRAAFF-REINET NEWS & VIDEO - More than 600 residents, young and old, gathered at the Nqweba Dam in Graaff-Reinet on Saturday morning with one common goal: to rid the empty dam of dead fish.

According to pastor Dolan Cochrane of Assembly Church, who initiated the project with the church, the 612 community members managed to gather a whopping 36 625 fish.

Helping hands included 341 students from the local SAPS Academy, who were tasked with clearing the dam of any litter, such as pieces of glass, plastic and paper.

Cochrane told the Advertiser that, although the project's main goals were to remove the litter and fish carcasses from the dam, it was also a community-building project.

"It's wonderful to see such a big turnout, we need to have unity in our community," Cochrane said. "It's easy to complain about the different issues in our community, but it's good to see people coming together with a common goal and doing something meaningful."

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According to him, Assembly contacted the local South African National Park with their idea, who then contacted the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality. The municipality disposed of the litter collected and dug trenches for the fish.

Watch a video below:

Young and old gathered to clean the dam.

Cochrane added that there are still some fish left on the far side of the dam, which will be removed at a later stage.

"All of us are affected by the environmental conditions, and it is good that the community and municipality take hands to clean our areas," said Community Service Director Bennie Arends.

Thousands of dead fish were cleared from the Nqweba Dam.