The invasive water plants have grown rapidly in the Vaal River, mostly because of the sewage in the water.
PHOTO: Alfonso Nqunjana/News24
Environmental activists are concerned about the use of a broad-spectrum herbicide on the water lettuce and water hyacinth in the Vaal River.
The invasive species from South America have flourished at an alarming rate in the Vaal because of a sewage spill.
The Emfuleni Local Municipality's broken wastewater treatment works pump around 170 million litres of untreated or partially treated wastewater and sewage into the river daily.
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