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Pietermaritzburg - With hundreds of canoeists putting the final touches to their preparations for the Hansa Powerade Dusi canoe marathon, the environmentalists are already hailing the race a groundbreaking success, long before the first batch gets under way.  Andrew Booth of the Dusi uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) (Anthony Grote)
Andrew Booth of the Dusi uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) is thrilled that the race has created a powerful new platform for his NGO to operate from, as it encourages each and every paddler and river user to use the DUCT hotline 033 345 7571 033 345 7571 to report any incidents of river pollution.
"This year has been our best year ever in terms of being able to service the paddlers and communities that live in the valleys," said Booth. "The exposure that we have received, and the efforts of the Powerade Race For the River to promote our hotline number to the paddlers that use the river is actually solving one of our biggest problems - the channel of information about what is happening to the river at any given time."
"The Powerade Race For the River has been pivotal to this, and the efforts of Andrew King and Devlin Fogg to run the whole way to highlight the work we do has had a massive impact already," said Booth.
Booth is also enthusiastic about the major increase in donor funding through the Hansa Powerade Dusi Charity Batch income. "Our income from the race is up 65%, and I interpret that as paddlers grasping the importance of what we do and seeing a need to support it."
Booth will be amongst the 1600 paddlers lining up for the start of the three day race to Durban, and is hoping to finish his tenth Hansa Powerade Dusi this year. He is confident that the ecoli problem in the river has been brought under control.
"Barring a major storm, which looks very, very unlikely, the ecoli levels in the river wont be a problem, and I am excited that much of the river has been cleaned up, which I am sure the paddlers will appreciate."
"The uMsindusi municipality has been brilliant they way they have responded to addressing the issues at the Darvill Sewerage Works, and fixing the problems and broken pipes that caused the problems in the Bainesdrift tributary," said Booth.
Booth has his sights set on maintaining this momentum behind the work done by DUCT, and to try and harness support from corporate backers who see the value in what they are trying to do.
"Our information problem has been helped by the media exposure we have received from the Powerade Race For the River campaign," said Booth. "Our other challenges are simple resource issues."
"What we can do is determined quite largely by the management and manpower at our disposal, and any new income will go into creating these positions, which will immediately increase our response capacity," said Booth.
Booth is also excited about a number of community initiatives that have resulted in clean-up programmes on tributaries to major rivers in the system, particularly in Sobantu, Edendale and in Clermont and kwaDabeka on the outskirts of Durban.
Booth had plenty of encouragement for King and Fogg as they set out to become the first participants to carry their kayak the entire route of the race. "It's going to tough but I am very confident in their ability to pull it off," he said.
"Go for it guys! Just keep putting one foot in front the other, and I am sure you will get there," he added.
"The entire Powerade Race For The River campaign has already had a massive impact on what we do, and I get this great feeling that at last people are seeing the environment as just as big a priority as the other national imperatives."
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