KwaDukuza town’s big clean-up begins

Last month the grim state of KwaDukuza town’s landscape overflowing with litter was highlighted in the Courier.

The filthy state of the CBD, overflowing with trash galvanised the municipality to launch a city wide clean-up campaign last Friday.

The campaign aims to raise community awareness so residents can take responsibility for throwing their trash in bins and not illegally dumping waste on the sides of the road or in open spaces.

Kicking off the initiative, KDM’s acting mayor Dolly Govender was seen alongside her team cleaning up illegal dumping, sweeping the streets and picking up litter at the town’s taxi rank.

Govender interacted with residents, landlords, shopkeepers and municipal workers and urged everyone to take ownership of their environment and expressed her concerns that some businesses were using litter bins in the CBD to dispose of their in-house waste.

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“As the municipality, we strongly believe that we can only overcome the challenges of a dirty town and neighbourhoods through collaborative and coordinated efforts, which involves all the stakeholders such as residents, businesses, NGOs and local recycling companies. It is important to understand that the issues of a dirty town and neighbourhood are directly linked to and are deep-rooted to human behaviour,” Govender said.

The acting mayor said that while the city’s solid waste management department worked hard to ensure high levels of cleanliness and clean streets it was in the community’s interest to look after the neighbourhoods they live in and keep their environment clean.

“KwaDukuza residents are responsible for all the litter and illegal dumping that is all over the municipal area of jurisdiction. The circle starts with one individual who decides to throw and dispose waste in areas that are not designated for dumping, it starts with an individual who dumps litter on the pavement instead of putting it in refuse bins that are provided in every single street in town.”

Govender urged the public to restore pride in their communities and town and set an intention to put an end to litter and illegal dumping.

“This coastal town was home to Inkosi Albert Luthuli, the first South African peace prize winner. It is also the provincial heritage site of the Shaka memorial. No other town in the province can boast such rich heritage,” added Govender.

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