After spending her entire life in Munsieville and walking the streets daily, you’d think that Chuma Kwakweni has grown accustomed to the litter that plagues the area.

However, Chuma recently decided that enough was enough. She noticed that the municipality was struggling to get ahead with its clean-up attempts and felt she had to do something about it.

This is when CMS Waste Management was born. Her non-profit organisation takes in volunteers in a united effort to pick up trash on the sidewalks, in the parks and the open spaces in the township.

Chuma and her son Tebogo are doing most of the cleaning up themselves, especially on the corner of Robert Broom Drive and Van Riebeeck Road where it seems that the problem is worse than in some of the other areas.

I want to see my project being recognised – working together to keep our community clean, and creating more job opportunities so that we would be able to provide a better environment and future for our kids and families,” Chuma explained.

She hopes that they would grow in numbers, start working with other projects in the area to achieve more, and to bring in donations so that CMS can afford the equipment they need, such as uniforms, recycling bags, trolleys for recycling, storage for their equipment and viable transportation for the volunteers.

She further plans on starting a community garden which can help feed residents in her area.

“As a mother of three,” she said, “seeing my kids living in these conditions got me deciding to keep our streets and community clean.”