I live in what has been called “A Gem of a Place” - the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy in the north-western corner of Gauteng.

In the past month we've “lost” our dirt roads with the incessant rains. Hauling neigbours out of mud holes, or being hauled out, makes for great community spirit, in spite of muddy clothes, frayed tempers and missed appointments. It's also good training ground for budding 4x4 drivers.

Last week I got a call from a neighbour, at work in Bryanston, asking to please rescue her daughter whose car had stalled in our Notta River. We took off at speed, to find her in the middle of the stream, perched on the open car window, with the water swirling through the car. The car was dragged out and towed to the nearest neighbour who applied tender loving care and hot coffee.  Car and girl are fine.  Tough girl, tough car (Toyota!).

I have to explain the Notta River, though. Years ago we had a neighbour – one of those with too much money and too little sense. He decided to plough up our precious grasslands (more about that later!) and plant crops. (Not sure what would grow around here...) He was the type of farmer who switched sprayers on at two o'clock on a blistering January afternoon. Most of the water went skywards but he did not notice. For these crops-to-be he needed a good water supply so he started drilling for water. After 29 tries he gave up (29 - I'm not joking) and then decided to build dams in the little stream that runs through Hills and Dales, the area of the Conservancy where we live. He proceeded to construct three dams at which point the neighbours pointed out that one needed certain permissions to build dams. His lawyers thought otherwise and informed us that he could do what he liked, seeing this was not a river, but merely a stream. Notta River, you see?

So he built his dams and the river dried up, downstream. That was until a really big storm hit us and washed his dams down the Notta into the Jukskei River a kilometre downstream. As we were all jubilating, his lawyer's letter arrived, accusing us of sabotage. But it wasn't us, it was the Notta River turned Lotta River.

This is the oldest Conservancy in Gauteng and one of the largest – 10 000 hectares. It is unique in the province in that it straddles three rivers – the Jukskei, the Crocodile and the Hennops River. To the north are dolomitic grasslands stretching to the Schurveberg range. The southern part is on granite, with the endangered Egoli Granite Grassland covering large areas. This vegetation type is endemic to Gauteng and most of it has already been destroyed across the province.

Our conservation efforts focus on issues such as alien eradication – the dreaded pink Pompom (Campuloclinium macrocephalum) and purple Verbena Bonariensis, both Catergory 1 invaders. By law they must be eradicted. Some local landowners have spent thousands of rands to date, bemoaning the fact that seeds blown across from untreated road verges keep re-infesting their land.

When will the various roads departments (provincial and national) clean up their act? If we are legally required to clean our properties – and one can be fined for not doing so – why are the relevant departments not fined for being in contravention of the law? Just asking....

A dedicated committee spends large amounts of their time working on various projects in the Conservancy. The Conservation Calendar has monthly events – walks and talks on spiders, scorpions, bats, geology, birds, snakes, trees, flowers. Ride the Rhenoster is the annual mountain bike ride over 35+ kilometres. A history tour takes visitors in a luxury bus to interesting historical sites in the area. A “Horse Picnic” takes riders across the veld, ending with a bubbly brunch under the trees.

But that's not all we do...!

Helen Duigan

www.rhenosterspruit.co.za and www.veldtalk.za.net

Helen is Chairperson of the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy, which is a voluntary body focussing on environmental issues in our part of the world.