Staff of MD Coovadia Combined school in Bethal cleans area outside school
MD Coovadia Combined School workers clean up after people dump illegally.
BETHAL – Staff at MD Coovadia Combined School in Milanpark recently jumped in themselves and removed the refuse.
Mr Gerhard Burger, the principal of MD Coovadia Combined School, said Govan Mbeki Municipality has a program in place where jobs are created and people are hired to clean up the town and surrounding areas.
“This is done regularly from the Social Development offices in Bethal on the R38 towards Standerton and Milanpark,” said Mr Burger.
“The rubbish is picked up and then stacked strategically for removal.
“However, this is where our challenge comes in. The municipality does not remove this in time and then the bags are torn open by the stray cattle in the area.
“The question can be asked, what is the use of the project in the first place.”
The rubbish is left in front of the entrance to the school.
Mr Burger and his staff recently cleared up the rubbish to make the school environment clean and healthy again.
The school’s governing body arranged transport to remove the bags and it took three days to pick up and remove all the rubbish.
Mr Burger and the school management urged the community not to dump their rubbish anywhere, but to use the designated areas for rubbish dumping.
Mr Lucky Mhlongo, the spokesman of Govan Mbeki Municipality, said the municipality is currently facing service delivery issues because of protests in the area.
“The municipality is trying, by all means, to respond to the situation,” said Mr Mhlongo.
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Residents can contact the call centre at 0800 6000 01/2/4 to report any service delivery issues.
Alternatively, residents can send a WhatsApp message to 083 790 0659 or an email to callcentre@govanmbeki.gov.za.
