Beware of the borer beetle: residents invited to important community meetings in June
23 May 2025
The City of Cape Town is urging residents in Claremont, Newlands, Constantia, Durbanville, Bellville and surrounds to attend the upcoming important community sessions about the invasive Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle (PSHB). The City's Invasive Species Unit will be hosting four of these sessions in June 2025. We recommend that residents set time aside to learn more about the threat posed by the PSHB to Cape Town’s urban forest.
The PSHB poses a serious threat to Cape Town's urban forest as infested trees have to be chipped.
Some of the trees affected in Cape Town include Boxelders, London Planes, English Oaks, Beef Wood, Weeping Willow, Cape Chestnut, Sweet Viburnum, Black Locust, Paperbark, Liquid Amber, Chinese Cottonwood and Maples.
Southern suburbs residents to note the following sessions:
3 June 2025 at the Claremont Library from 16:00 to 18:00
11 June 2025 at the Alphen Centre from 10:30 to 13:00
17 June 2025 at the Alphen Centre from14:00 to 16:00
Northern suburbs residents to note the following session:
18 June 2025, Bellville Library, 16:00 to 19:00
The following topics will be covered
How to identify infested trees and what symptoms to look out for:
• What to do next, what not to do
• How to handle infested biomass
• How to safely dispose of infested biomass
• How to transport green waste
• How to handle equipment and machinery in a manner that will not spread the pest to other areas
‘To help curb the spread of the beetle, we ask residents to share the details of our upcoming public meetings with their neighbours. Our goal is to reach as many residents as possible in June to curb the spread to neighbouring suburbs. Please attend or drop in after work at any of these sessions, be it at the Alphen Centre in Constantia, the Claremont Library, or Bellville Library if you have any questions and would like to pose them to our team,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.
To date PSHB has been confirmed/observed in over 6 000 trees across the City in the following Areas:
Somerset West, Strand, Penhill, Newlands, Constantia, Rondebosch, Observatory, Mowbray, Rosebank, Claremont, Kenilworth, Wynberg, Diep River, Pinelands, Durbanville, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein, Bellville and Parow North. Since 2019, PSHB presence and symptoms have been observed on 116 tree species in Cape Town, 34 of which are indigenous and 82 alien.
How to report PSHB beetle sightings:
• Online at www.capetown.gov.za/InvasiveSpecies
• Call the City of Cape Town's Invasive Species Unit on 021 444 2357, Monday to Friday, from 07:30 to 16:00
• Send an email to: invasive.species@capetown.gov.za
The City will try its best to respond within 10 working days to verify a reported sighting. However, the response time will depend on the number of sightings reported.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
