Joburg needs you to become a cleaner city

27 September 2017

 

Litterbugs in the City of Johannesburg have been warned: Joburg is unleashing an army of anti-litter volunteers to keep the City clean through the monthly A Re Sebetseng programme.

 

“We challenge you to commit the fourth Saturday of every month to cleaning the streets of our communities, starting this coming Saturday on 30 September,” urges Cllr Nonhlanhla Sifumba, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development.

“In our little corners, let’s make Johannesburg work,” says MMC Sifumba.

Although the responsibility of cleaning and disposing on waste is the mandate of Pikitup, the waste management company of the City of Joburg, it is impossible for the entity with a staff complement of over 4 000 employees to ensure that the 1 645 square metres of Johannesburg, which has 135 wards, is kept spotlessly clean.

That is why the City has enlisted the help of residents to participate in monthly clean-up campaigns and to refrain from littering and illegally dumping waste. Residents can report illegal dumping on 0860 562 874/ 011 375 5555 or at info@pikitup.co.za.

Illegal dumping and littering cost the City millions of rands, money that can be used to fund other employment-creating projects as opposed to wasting money on avoidable expenses.

The City of Joburg’s A Re Sebetseng programme is modelled along a similar initiative in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, which was honoured by the United Nations in 2008 for its cleanliness levels.

On the last Saturday of the month, everyone in Rwanda sets aside their personal engagements to carry out a communal cleaning service. No one between the ages of 18 to 65 years old is spared and through such massive clean-up monthly clean up campaigns Rwanda was able to achieve its spectacular cleanliness levels and also sustain its cleanliness levels to date.

The City of Johannesburg through the A Re Sebetseng clean-up campaign calls on all residents, including business, non-profit organisations and community organisations to dedicate their time on the last Saturday of each month to clean their neighbourhoods.

Play your part in making the City of Johannesburg sparkle. You can pick up bags and gloves on Thursday 28 September or Friday 29 September 2017 at your nearest Pikitup depot, City library, City clinic or walk-in centres.

If you want your area to become part of the A Re Sebetseng clean-up blitz, please call 087 357 1126 or email aresebetseng@pikitup.co.za to arrange for full waste bags to be collected.