The wetland in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, was once a place where the Sopangisa brothers could paddle, run canoeing activities and bring people together around the water. But invasive water hyacinth, rubbish and sewage pollution increasingly disrupted those activities.
Instead of accepting the deterioration of the wetland as an unsolvable problem, Siyanda and Akhona Sopangisa began looking for another way to use the plant they were removing.
The brothers founded the Khayelitsha Canoe Club in 2023. Their work around the Blowy wetland subsequently expanded into clearing invasive vegetation and exploring ways to turn it into a useful product.
Water hyacinth is an invasive aquatic plant that can spread rapidly, covering water surfaces and disrupting ecosystems. Removing it can help address one part of the problem, although lasting wetland recovery also requires action on pollution and the conditions that allow the plant to flourish.
The brothers began drying the harvested hyacinth and processing it into biochar, a carbon-rich material that can be used to improve soil properties. They learnt the production process with guidance from Char2Cool, a German non-profit organisation that supports the conversion of water hyacinth into biochar.
The finished product is intended for gardens and agricultural use. According to Siyanda, the biochar can help soil retain water and nutrients, potentially supporting people who grow their own vegetables and other plants.
The initiative connects two community challenges: an increasingly degraded wetland and the need for practical, locally accessible resources for gardening. It also creates an opportunity to develop a small business from a material that would otherwise be treated as unwanted vegetation.
The brothers have been selling biochar locally and are looking to expand into bulk sales to farmers. Such growth could create further commercial opportunities, although the scale of future demand and employment remains to be demonstrated.
Their wider activities also show the importance of community involvement. In earlier reporting, GroundUp documented how the brothers and volunteers removed rubbish from the wetland, while recyclable materials were passed to unemployed women who could earn income from recycling them.
The work does not remove the need for municipal action on sewage pollution or for a coordinated plan to restore the wetland. Nor should biochar be treated as an automatic solution for every soil type or agricultural setting. Its suitability depends on how it is produced and how it is used.
Nevertheless, the brothers’ initiative offers a compelling example of practical innovation. It starts with a problem affecting a familiar community space, identifies a potential use for the material causing part of that problem and builds a livelihood opportunity around the response.
For the Sopangisa brothers, restoring value to the wetland is about more than clearing a waterway. It is also about creating opportunities for gardening, local enterprise and a healthier relationship between the community and its environment.
Description
Brothers Siyanda and Akhona Sopangisa are harvesting invasive water hyacinth from the Blowy wetland in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, and converting it into biochar for local gardens. Their initiative connects environmental clean-up with urban agriculture and the development of a small community enterprise.
Editor’s Note
Environmental problems can affect far more than the natural world. A polluted wetland can disrupt recreation, damage local ecosystems and undermine opportunities for community development. In Khayelitsha, the Sopangisa brothers are finding a productive use for invasive water hyacinth, turning a plant that has obstructed their canoeing activities into a soil-improvement product. Their story demonstrates how community-led innovation can connect environmental action with livelihoods and food-growing initiatives.
