Umfolosi River

At one stage, Hill-Smith, who worked in my sub-division, felt like visiting the Umfolosi Game Reserve while he did some work near there. He had a map with him on which he had drawn the outline of a possible reservoir to be created by a dam on the Umfolosi River. I must stress here that DWA was not planning any dam on that river at the time. He must have shown that map to somebody there, probably so that he could get in, because all hell broke loose. The press was full of it and the environmental lobby prepared for battle. They came to see the Secretary, who told them that there were no immediate plans, but that the Department reserved the right to investigate a dam anywhere on any of the country’s river. He wanted to assert this right and instructed us to investigate all possible sites in the basin! Johan du Plessis and I were invited to visit the Reserve on foot to convince us of the pristine nature, especially the river vegetation. Ironically, sometime afterwards, the tropical storm Demoina destroyed it all.