Rivers of pain in Nairobi and Johannesburg: How bad are they, and what’s (really) being done?

This is the story of two urban rivers: Nairobi’s Ngong (running through Mukuru) and Johannesburg’s Jukskei (cutting through Alexandra).

Both flow through dense, flood-prone settlements where flash floods, raw sewage and plastic pollution are getting worse.

The toll goes beyond drowning and lost property.

Preliminary research in Mukuru found 44% of people living in flood zones showed signs of PTSD, rising to 51% among those who had survived five or more floods.

The water itself is dangerous, too.

Researchers estimate someone swimming in the Jukskei through Alexandra has a 50% to 60% chance of picking up salmonella or shigella, while Mukuru records cholera cases most years.

Nairobi is pulling ahead: its Nairobi Rivers Commission is dredging rivers, rebuilding sewers and clearing flood buffers at a scale Johannesburg hasn’t managed.

In today’s newsletter , Tanya Pampalone tells us more about the river next door.

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On a recent trip to Nairobi I spent time in Mukuru, a slum divided by the Ngong River, which flows into the Nairobi River.

My first thought on walking in the community was this: I’m in Alexandra, Johannesburg, not Mukuru, and this isn’t the Ngong river, it’s the Jukskei.

I have walked the banks of the Jukskei River for the past 15 years.

I have worked in, and lived in Alexandra (Alex for short).

The similarities with Mukuru are uncanny.