Cable thieves, sewage spills and invasive plants are choking the Baakens Valley

Repeated theft of streetlight cables on the William Moffatt Expressway bridge has forced Gqeberha stakeholders to pilot increasingly drastic measures to protect municipal infrastructure. So far, the latest attempt appears to be holding strong.

Ward 6 councillor Gert Engelbrecht said municipal technicians had spent months replacing stolen cables, only for vandals to return. Night patrols by private security firms did little to deter vandals targeting municipal infrastructure for a quick buck.

Engelbrecht said the authorities had tried several measures to keep vandals out of municipal infrastructure, including cementing around the poles, welding service covers shut and securing them with metal straps. None proved effective for long.

Robust service panel covers

In the latest pilot attempt to stop the thefts, thicker covers were manufactured by Steel Tube Bargain Centre and installed by Yonke Installation. DA mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal paid for the covers, Engelbrecht said.

The affected streetlights stretch from Cape Road to beyond William Moffatt Shopping Centre.

“This is the longest we’ve been on the bridge without any more cable theft,” Engelbrecht said. “So, it’s welded now, and it seems to be holding.”

According to Engelbrecht, vandals can earn between R350 and R500 by selling stolen cables to scrap dealers.

The repeated vandalism is one visible sign of the challenges facing the Baakens Valley, a green corridor that cuts through Gqeberha, with its fynbos, river habitat and pockets of open space.

Elsewhere in the valley, sewage pollution, invasive alien plants and concerns about security are undermining its potential as an urban natural asset.

A river under pressure

Dr Gary Koekemoer, chairperson of the Eastern Cape branch of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa), said ageing equipment and poor maintenance at three pump stations were contributing to pollution in the Baakens River.

Wastewater overflows reached the river and eventually the harbour, he said.

The concerns echo findings by the South African Human Rights Commission, which identified the Baakens River as among the water systems affected by sewage-related pollution concerns in Nelson Mandela Bay.

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In a report released in July, the commission called for investigations into the sources of contamination, remedial action and 12 months of water-quality monitoring at the Baakens and Chatty sites.

Its findings raised concerns about the municipality’s ability to prevent sewage contamination and protect residents’ right to an environment that was not harmful to health or wellbeing.

Although environmental groups have cleared invasive vegetation in parts of the valley, Koekemoer said these efforts would count for little without improvements to the underlying problems.

“The best thing to sum it up is that it’s a wasted opportunity at this point,” he said.

He identified sewage pollution as the most pressing concern, calling for repairs to pump stations and an early-warning system that would alert authorities to breakdowns before they resulted in overflows.

Mervyn Brouard, who works with Wessa on environmental projects involving schools and organisations in Gqeberha, warned that continued sewage pollution threatened aquatic life in the river.

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“There are sort of endangered minnows, fish that are still present,” Brouard said. “But if you’re going to get continuous pollution of those rivers, you’re eventually going to lose those fish.”

Endangered redfin minnows and otters could also be affected if pollution continued, he said.

Invasive plants

The valley faces another threat from invasive alien vegetation, which has spread across parts of the area.

Brouard identified Port Jackson, longleaf wattle, Brazilian pepper, lantana and inkberry among the problem plants. Australian myrtle was also encroaching on fynbos habitat, which he described as “a huge problem”.

There have been repeated calls for the municipality to step up efforts to clear invasive alien vegetation, which can increase fuel loads and heighten the risk of runaway veld fires during Nelson Mandela Bay’s hot, dry season.

“Invasive plants burn very, very hot. They are much hotter than fynbos fires. If you see a eucalyptus forest fire, or a pine forest fire, or a rooikrans forest fire, what you see is very intense heat,” Brouard said.

He said the municipality was responsible for coordinating invasive plant removal. To his understanding, the national government had also prompted the municipality to develop an environmental management plan to address the problem.

Security and maintenance of the valley

Engelbrecht said the recurring cable thefts raised questions about how effectively the municipality could protect infrastructure across the valley.

He said a single municipal ranger was sometimes expected to cover the entire area, making it difficult to prevent illegal activities.

“On a good day, you’ll get the municipality sending out one ranger. I mean, one ranger that covers the entire Baakens Valley,” he said.

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“The ranger is never going to catch vagrants who are hunting wildlife in the Baakens Valley,” he said.

Koekemoer said the valley’s future depended on the municipality maintaining its infrastructure and working with environmental organisations to protect and restore the area.

“It’s a fantastic green corridor through our city,” he said. “It’s a fantastic outdoor space that really has great potential.”

The municipality did not respond to questions sent last Thursday morning, 22 October 2026, about its maintenance of the Baakens Valley, including the clearing of invasive alien vegetation, security measures for visitors and how it was addressing sewage spills. DM