Drones Clean Cliffs and Fight Crime in Nelson Mandela Bay

Imagine cleaning a dangerous cliff without risking a single human life. That's exactly what happened last week in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, where drones plucked bags of trash from the sheer rockface of Baakens Valley.

For three years, Hussar Security and Defence Solutions has quietly helped local police track criminals and protect natural resources. Now they're expanding their mission to tackle one of the city's ugliest eyesores.

The north face of Baakens Valley had become a dumping ground, with garbage littering the cliffs overlooking a busy business district. Traditional cleanup would mean sending people rappelling down dangerous rocks. Instead, Hussar founder Tom Kruger had a better idea.

His team sent climbers down to bag the trash, then deployed a specialized DJI FlyCart 30 drone worth about $30,000. The drone zipped to the climbers at speeds up to 75 kilometers per hour, collected payloads up to 40 kilograms, and ferried everything safely to ground crews. In one impressive flight, it even hauled away the heavy wooden frame of an old coach that had been dumped years ago.

The operation came together through a partnership with private security firms Afrisec and Citywide Security, responding to requests from the Lower Baakens Valley Business Cluster. Business owners had watched illegal dumping increase for months and needed a solution.

"We saw this as an opportunity to showcase our involvement in the community and what Hussar's technology and teams are about," said Afrisec managing director Gary Johnson.

The Ripple Effect

Kruger's inspiration came from learning that drones were recovering waste and fallen climbers from Mount Everest. If drones could work at the top of the world, why not in South African valleys?

The real goal goes beyond cleanup. Kruger envisions drones delivering emergency medical supplies, transporting equipment to hard-to-reach places, and ensuring high-value packages arrive safely when every second counts.

Meanwhile, Hussar's drones continue their original mission. They've monitored perlemoen poachers, tracked vandals targeting municipal infrastructure, caught cable thieves, and even helped authorities during the 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Baakens Valley cleanup provides crucial data that Hussar will share with South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority. Each flight brings the company closer to approval for wider drone applications that could transform emergency response and community services across the Eastern Cape.

What started as a cliff cleanup is proving that technology and community spirit can solve problems once thought too dangerous or expensive to tackle.