Recycle to minimise waste - Mayor Mashaba

06 June 2017

 

The City of Joburg has allocated Pikitup more than R2.4-Billion in the 2017/18 financial year for waste management, including the clearing of illegal dumping sites across the municipality.

 

Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba noted during World Environment Day that of the allocated budget, R150-million would be spent on the cleaning of 181 informal settlements across the city. Mayor Mashaba said an additional R50-million will be invested in Pikitup's third cleaning shift in the Johannesburg inner city.

Pikitup is a City of Joburg entity charged with waste management.

Mayor Mashaba joined scores of community members in Mshenguville Park in Mofolo, Soweto on Monday, 5 June to mark World Environment Day. Observed annually on 5 June since 1974, World Environment Day is a United Nations' campaign aimed at raising awareness of the need to protect and preserve the environment.

This year’s event in Soweto, Region D was attended by scores of people, including Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services Councillor Nico de Jager, Pikitup Managing Director Lungile Dhlamini, Miss Earth South Africa Executive Director Catherine Constantinides, Canadian High Commissioner to South Africa Sandra McCardell and Regional Director of the United Nations' Environment Programme Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga.

More than 200 people - including local residents, City officials and international dignitaries - took part in the cleaning of the park.

In his address, Mayor Mashaba said illegal dumping was costing the City about R80-million a year. Joburg generated about 1.6 million tons of waste, which was deposited at landfill sites.

"Unfortunately, we have reached a point where our landfill sites are running out of airspace and, for this reason, responsible waste management is crucial," he said.

Mayor Mashaba said the City would implement a number of interventions to conserve natural resources. "In our quest to protect our natural resources we must be cognisant of the impact that urban life has on the environment," he said.

The Mayor used the event to reaffirm the City’s relationship with the Miss Earth South Africa organisation, which stretches as far back as 2003. "I am particularly happy about the partnership between the City's waste management service provider, Pikitup, and Miss Earth South Africa," Mayor Mashaba noted.

He said through the partnership the City would mobilise communities and stakeholders to protect and preserve the environment by applying basic principles of waste minimisation.

"Residents and stakeholders alike must learn to reduce, reuse and recycle," he added.

Constantinides said the partnership would enable the Miss Earth South Africa organisation to activate schools and communities to support the strategic goals of Pikitup and the City.

Dhlamini said more than 200 000 households across Johannesburg were taking part in the City's separation-at-source project led by the entity.