Jukskei Aerial Photography Mission with the Bateleurs

Bateleurs Crew
Justin Bass (Pilot ZS-BKB - Cessna 172 photography platform)
Richard Strever (Photographer)
Jeremy Woods (Pilot ZS-WBM – Piper Comanche)

Wet-Africa.org – Kim Kieser (Director) Greg Steenveld (Director) Steve Banhegyi (photography)

Mission Overview

The mission departed Rand Airport in Germiston on Sunday the 29th March at around 11am for a planned one hour flight to the Hartebeespoort Dam. Routing was from Rand airport to Hillbrow/Bertrams down to Bruma lake, then north towards Buccleuch, Kyalami, Dainfern, Diepsloot and the Hartebeespoort Dam. Altitude was between 700 and 1000 ft AGL following the Jukskei and there were some orbits necessary during the route in order to get different perspectives for the cameraman. The attached report more fully explains the mission and the outcomes.

Outcomes

The flight immediately provided a useful Macro level perspective of the area for Wet-Africa. Additionally, the flight has provided high resolution digital photographs which have already helped to identify areas of attention along the waterway and given an important overall indication of the health of the jukskei. These photographs will be further studied and correlated with satellite maps to create an understanding of the river's situation before Wet-Africa.org's clean-up interventions.
The waterway is currently in a poor condition with extensive examples of pollution and contamination through human activity resulting in the characteristic green colour of Hartebeespoort Dam.

Wet-Africa.org thanks the Bateleurs for their wonderful support and professionalism and helping us to understand our waterways better.