Urgent clean-up needed before G20 Summit
Swift coordinated action is vital to prevent Emfuleni from again becoming a national scandal, as has already happened before on the sewage pollution of the Vaal River and sewage spillage in suburbs and townships.
Local organised business has urged the Gauteng Provincial Government, Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), and enterprises to collaborate and clean up accumulated refuse before the G20 Johannesburg Summit starts in late November.
“Accumulated rubbish and refuse continue to clog access routes to Emfuleni from Gauteng, North West Province, and the Free State, and can only further accelerate disinvestment or lack of investment appetite in poverty-stricken Emfuleni”, says the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC).
All attempts should be made to focus attention on Emfuleni’s huge tourism potential and assets, say business stakeholders.
The ELM said this week it would cooperate with business efforts to clean up the region and had already implemented clean-up projects under Executive Mayor Sipho Radebe.
ELM would also cooperate on access route projects with businesses, but these were the responsibility of the Gauteng Provincial Government, said ELM spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni.
“This is the immediate crisis that signals a failing local government system and directly undermines foreign and local investment – especially to those thousands of visitors expected at the G20 Johannesburg Summit on November 22-23,” says GTCoC spokesperson Jaco Verwey.
Verwey urged businesses in Emfuleni and the broader Vaal region to accelerate and intensify their clean-up and beautification efforts in the few weeks left to the opening of the G20 Johannesburg Summit.
