Streets are cleaned in informal settlements
Members of the community also joined the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni, Clr Mondli Gungubele to clean the streets
THE City of Ekurhuleni tackled the streets of Tembisa as part of the Clean Neighbourhood Fridays project, with the aim of clearing them of dirt.
Madelakufa Section 2, in Tembisa, is a community plagued by a high level of unemployment and, as such, many residents turn to recycling waste for their livelihood.
However, the collection of recycling material in this community has ended up doing more harm than good, by turning the area into illegal dumping sites.
Members of the community joined the mayor of Ekurhuleni, Clr Mondli Gungubele, his mayoral committee and senior officials of the city in large numbers on Friday, March 18, to help with the cleaning of their own living spaces, by removing heaps of waste, rodents, overgrown weeds and grass, and repairing leaking pipes, blocked storm water pipes and malfunctioning street lights.
Albertina Njoloza, who resides in Madelakufa and is also a member of the Clean City Brigade, spent her Friday morning encouraging her neighbours to join her in cleaning their area for their own benefit.
“I love cleanliness; even though I stay in a shack, I always make sure that it looks good and smells fresh,” she said.
”I always encourage my neighbours to keep our neighbourhood clean, we even try to keep the communal toilets that we use clean, for the next person who will use it,” said Njoloza as she raked dirt from the trenches.
Members of her community were so drawn to the idea of cleaning as a collective they even pledged to do it every Saturday, of their own accord.
“We will no longer wait for municipal officials to come and clean for us once in a week, we can do this on our own and they can just pick up the piles of dirt we gather,” said one resident as she swept the street.
“Tembisa has no excuse for being dirty, residents here must cherish their neighbourhood; this is the township that harbours one of the city’s gems, the starting point of our first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system,” said Gungubele.
“In a few months’ time we will be back here to launch our first bus, Harambee, and it promises to draw attention to the city.
”It is, therefore, our responsibility to show the world that we are capable of housing infrastructure that is of world class standards, by keeping our neighbourhoods clean.”
