Keeping towns, cities green
The Polokwane Municipality was recently named the first runner-up in the department of economic development, environment and tourism's annual Greenest Municipality Competition.
POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality was recently named the first runner-up in the department of economic development, environment and tourism’s annual Greenest Municipality Competition.
The competition was formerly known as the Cleanest Town Competition.
Polokwane received R100 000 and a certificate.
The second runner-up was the Thulamela Municipality, from the Vhembe district, and they received R50 000 and a certificate.
The winner, Mogalakwena Municipality, from the Waterberg district, received R200 000 and a certificate.
The competition was initiated in 2001 with the primary focus on implementing the National Waste Management Strategy.
The key elements of the competition are reducing, recycling and reusing waste materials.
The MEC for economic development, environment and tourism (Ledet), Seaparo Sekoati, said the competition was a fresh approach to ensuring that each municipality considered its environmental footprint.
“It calls for interaction among stakeholders while each role player remains aware of its organisational ability on the execution of waste management plans, energy efficiency and conservation mechanisms, water management regulations, landscaping and tree planting, beautification, leadership and institutional arrangements, public participation and community empowerment instead of the historic cleanest town competition focusing only on waste,” said Sekoati.
He said all 25 Limpopo municipalities participated in the programme since its launch in 2009.
The programme focusses on encouraging municipalities to green their systems, projects and programmes,ensuring they adapt to the global trends of sustainable development.
Sekoati called the programme a barometer to measure progress of the Limpopo Green Economy plan.
He said the competition brought immense changes in municipalities’ finance planning, the level of understanding the greening concept and the projects implemented by municipalities are an indication of the change brought by the programme.
He said municipalities’ internal electricity consumption had decreased, huge strides had been taken in the re-using of ‘black’ water, there were a growing number of dry parks, energy and water saving mechanisms were incorporated in the construction of, for example, low cost housing (solar geysers) and plans were also developed for the protection and management of sensitive natural resources.
Education programmes to teach communities and schools about environmental management and to make people aware of the dangers of deforestation has been launched.
“The effect and impact of climate changes has the potential to undermine the gains of development. We must therefore look at mechanisms for the earth to sustain its much needed resources. Trees are planted to mitigate soil degradation and to assist the earth in replenishing itself to mitigate for climate change.
“This programme facilitates tree planting in municipalities and, as a department, we made a decision to plant a million trees across the province,” said Sekoati.
