A clean-up campaign has been started by a group of Nyanga residents recently in their neighbourhood where it is not uncommon to see parts of the area looking neglected and turned into illegal dump sites.
And these areas often become a breeding ground for disease, posing health risks to children and adults. Often, there is so much rubbish dumped at these sites that residents can’t even walk on the pavements.
Lulama Benge, who initiated the clean-up campaign on Friday April 24, said residents could not depend on the City of Cape Town’s refuse collection or solid waste management departments to keep the area clean.
“Therefore, we as community members took this matter into our own hands. About 90% of the people who help out are unemployed youth,” he said.
To date four phases of cleaning have been completed. Phase one had 15 people work over three days to clean the corner of Terminus Road and Abonwabisi Street.
Used tyres were donated by Ncumisa Hexe, Landsowne Road Spares and LVovo in Terminus Road to be used as barriers between the tarred pavement and the patches of sand and grass.
“A big thank you goes to Ntsikelelo Fayo, Andile Mafu and Siphumle Mnyamana for transporting the tyres,” said Mr Benge.
Nozulu Slevu and his team from the City of Cape Town’s solid waste management made sure that the bags of rubbish were collected after the clean-up.
There were also people who donated food and cold drinks to the volunteers, said Mr Benge.
“We thank them for their support. As a community we want to take pride in the space we live in. We hope to reach as many parts of Nyanga and want to educate the community on keeping Nyanga clean. We urge everyone to take responsibility for their area and to avoid dumping litter in our public spaces,” said Mr Benge.
If anyone wishes to donate trees, plants, flowers and soil to enable them to start a green garden, it would be appreciated.
If you’d like to get involved, contact Lulama Benge on 060 688 8384.