Cape Town stung by wasp 'invasion'

26 April 2016 - 16:26 By TMG Digital

Cape Town authorities are engaged in a relentless battle to remove invasive wasp nests across the city. The city has a dedicated "wasp control team" which has‚ during this summer season‚ removed more than 2‚500 wasp nests as part of its Invasive Species Programme.Last summer the city responded to 1‚600 reports about wasps. This summer more than 2‚500 reports were received - and reports continue to arrive daily.The increase was attributed to a "rapid expansion of the invasive wasp population" and more residents being aware about them."While the increase in reporting is very valuable for mapping the wasp population and for the turnaround time for responding to reports‚ it also puts a lot of pressure on the Invasive Wasp Control Project‚" said the city’s mayoral committee member for energy‚ environmental and spatial planning‚ councillor Johan van der Merwe."The teams have been working six days a week to respond as speedily as possible to the reports. Additional capacity has also been created in an attempt to contain the invasion and prevent it from spreading to more neighbourhoods. However‚ despite the unit’s tireless efforts‚ the city’s teams will unfortunately not be able to attend to all the reports by the end of this season purely due to the sheer number of requests‚" he said.The invasive European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) has grown rapidly in numbers‚ with populations discovered in the suburbs of Newlands‚ Constantia‚ Plumstead‚ Kenilworth‚ Claremont‚ Parklands‚ Atlantis‚ Bothasig‚ Morningstar and Hout Bay...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.