Baseti Project, an NGO, got its hands dirty last Thursday, June 16, when it collected rubbish bags and cleaned Langa in an effort to encourage residents to care for their environment.
The initiative aims to educate residents about the dangers of polluting the environment while discouraging them from dumping rubbish illegally.
Phakama Yako, co-ordinator of the project, said she had found that many township residents did not understand the critical role of the environment.
The campaign sought to change that and encourage community activism.
“I have seen that many people were discarding rubbish in any open space they saw even though the City gave them plastic bags to put the rubbish in.
“In some areas the City had provided them with a container to put the rubbish bags in but people were still continuing to dump rubbish anywhere,” she said.
“We need to host many of these campaigns in our communities so that we can create a conducive environment for our children to live in and create a friendly environment for the future generation.”
Ms Yako said that two weeks earlier they had planted 23 trees to beautify the neighbourhood, and they’re appealing to the community to follow this example and plant trees of their own.
She said the project was part of an ongoing drive to help Langa residents reclaim their environment.
Ward councillor Mayenzeke Sophaqa said it was doing important work encouraging residents to take better care of the environment. The community needed to play its part, though, in uplifting the neighbourhood.
“If people are not working hand in hand with local government in uplifting the standard of their community, we can never create a better society for our children.
“We need to act now to protect our the environment”.
Langa resident Florence Ntolonto said the community needed to take action to stop Langa resembling a dump.
She said a rat infestation had plagued the township because of rubbish piling up.
“We need to stop being lazy and say this is the job of the City. We need to assist the City in their endeavours of making sure that we live in a clean society. I urged other people in their communities to do the same.”