Clean-up in Munsieville should be an eye-opener – municipality
The municipality recently held a clean-up campaign in Munsieville for World Environment Day.
This year’s theme for World Environment Day is to beat plastic pollution. With this in mind, Mogale City’s Department of Integrated Environment Management (DIEM) hosted a recent clean-up campaign in Munsieville.
A statement from Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) said that South Africa introduced legislation to decrease plastic littering in 2003.
“It combined standards and price-based economic tools to reduce the public’s demand for plastic bags and brought in the plastic bag levy system. However, even with this system in place, over 2 million tons of plastics are still littered in the country each year.”
The event was held to raise awareness about plastic pollution, its effects on the environment, and the lives of the citizens.
The statement further read, “… it will take action from governments, industry bodies, businesses, and common citizens to reduce the impact of plastic on human health and the planet. Single-use plastics are the leading contributor to plastic pollution, micro plastics, tiny fragments of plastic less than 5mm in length are finding their way into our food chain, with unknown consequences for human health and well-being.”
The campaign was led by the Executive Mayor of Mogale, Councillor Danny Thupane, and was attended by a variety of stakeholders like the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment; West Rand District Municipality; City of Johannesburg; Rand Water; EPR Waste Association of South Africa and two NGOs – Chuma Masisi Service Waste Management and Bontle ke Botho.
During his speech, Thupane stressed the importance of preserving clean spaces and avoiding litter to encourage a positive and changed attitude that will see the residents of Munsieville having regular clean-ups, especially the youth.
“We need to motivate the youth to use the open spaces, with the approval of the owners of the land of course, as a business hub and start opening businesses.”
Throughout the event, speakers generally highlighted the fact that plastic pollution remains a serious environmental concern and contributes drastically to climate change. Therefore, also raising the importance of planting trees in your yards and living in clean and healthy environments that are not harmful to children.
