With the recent rains, more trash and sewage spilt into the lake leading to a higher than usual E.coli level.
Two years ago all the grass carps in the lake died due to a similar problem.

Rod MacKinnon, the chairperson of the Wemmer Pan Rowing Club, said: “This problem is an unknown one that has surfaced in the last few years. Two years ago we had an incident where all the grass carps in the lake died.

Mackinnon also tested the water and found apart from the sewage and trash in the pan there was also traces of mining acid as well as industrial waste that ended up in the lake.

All these factors combined give the lake an unhealthy amount of metals that are dangerous for a human to ingest.

Buang Jones, provincial manager for SAHRC, said: “It’s time to start working with the business sector to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. We will arrange a meeting between ourselves, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and all the stakeholders at Wemmer Pan to start planning on a way forward.

When the COURIER visited the lake on Tuesday, no signs were seen warning anyone of the pollution and the E.coli in the lake.

Source: Southern Courier