ERIC MATOME KGOMO
Dennilton: Mpumalanga Party (MP) Womens’ League have organized a cleaning campaign that was undertaken on the streets of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality Ward 8 and Ward 11 in Dennilton. The women swept and cleared the garbage, cleaned ditches and unoccupied stands around the wards as part of the drive. Campaign organizer, Happy Pheladi Tau, said they saw a need to do something about the untidiness of their surrounding in a bid to change Dennilton’s image as one of the filthiest places in the municipality. “As Mpumalanga Party women, we have taken a pledge to tidy up our surrounding while we also educate people about the importance of cleanliness,” she said. Tau said the impact of the initiative was positive as residents complimented their efforts when walking on the newly cleaned roads, something that did not happen before. “We have people who were appointed to clean our roads but nothing changes. This is the reason we decided to do it ourselves. We knew we will be doing it properly because this is our place and we care about it,” informed Tau. She encouraged people to use proper dumping sites and also follow in their footsteps and organize mass cleaning awareness campaigns and end the practice of throwing rubbish everywhere and defecation.
“Our aim is to stop the growing menace of throwing rubbish everywhere, especially plastic litter and used disposable baby nappies that are seen everywhere. Something must be done about this, we need to educate ourselves and try to minimize the effects of pollution because it is hazardous to our health,” she said. Tau said they are worried that some of unoccupied yards are now turned into dumping sites. “Throwing trash in other people’s unoccupied property seems to be our practice because people are lazy to walk distances to use proper dumping site, which seems to be an insult to all of us. We need to educate each other that it is no longer acceptable and everyone has a responsibility to play a part to ensure that the environment is tidy,” explained Tau. Tau said the programme is continuing and will be expanded to other places and spread the awareness campaign while highlighting the importance of a clean environment to the public. “The constant littering with trash pilling up on our streets is worrisome and affect all places. We are aiming for a bigger cleaning campaign awareness that will change the perception of the community and probably saving our environment,” she said.
