An investigation is under way after thousands of unused personal protection equipment was found in the Hennops River, at the weekend.

Several boxes of gloves and masks were discovered floating in the river by Irene Country Club staff and the Hennops River Revival team.

The police and the acting MEC for health in Gauteng were called to the river in Irene on Sunday, after medical gloves were seen floating down the river.

“More than 11 black refuse bags filled with well over a thousand unopened boxes of single-use hospital medical gloves were dumped in the river between late Saturday night, and early Sunday morning,” the DA said in a press release on Monday.

Acting MEC for Health Jacob Mamabolo, who visited the club after a video of the unused equipment went viral on social media, said: “It is unfortunate that someone or people would discard personal protective equipment during a global pandemic and additionally pollute the environment.”

He said they would leave no stone unturned to find the culprits.

Tarryn Johnston from Hennops River Revival told IOL, the brazen pollution and disregard for the river was painful and maddening.

She said there had been major strides in cleaning up over the past weeks, and the river was in a better condition. But the dumping of the equipment resulted in a setback.

“As much as this is disheartening, we cannot let it go and pollute the river.”

In addition, the Gauteng health department has been under the spotlight in recent weeks, after it issued more than 167 personal protective equipment tenders worth R2.2-billion to political allies.