Jazz singer Sylvia Mdunyelwa knows how to sweep folks off their feet with her magical voice, but she and her partner, Kwezi Kobus, are doing sweeping of a different sort these days as they try to clean up Langa.
Now that the weather is sunny and warm, Langa residents should be getting outdoors to clean up parks and other parts of the neighbourhood that have been spoiled by little louts, says Ms Mdunyelwa, who, together with Mr Kobus, runs a clean-up campaign in her neighbourhood, inviting community groups, families, individuals, and businesses, to roll up their sleeves.
“We started a year ago to clean our area because it feels safe to be in a clean environment. Everyone should contribute to keeping the township clean. I mean every street should be accessible and healthier to its people,” she said after taking up a group of children and some residents to clean the area last Saturday.
Everyone could play their part by helping to clean and by not littering, she said.
“This is our area and the place where we live, we ought to look after it. We ought to love our spaces. It is summertime and it’s hot so we have to sit outside. But if the area is dirty, that means we cannot enjoy ourselves.”
Mr Kobus said he was encouraged by those who had joined the clean-up campaign.
“The fact that people came to clean tells a story that we are all tired of littering. This should not only end here but spread to other streets and areas. We have to encourage those who were not part of this to come forward too.”
And a lot of work still needed to be done to change the attitudes of those who continued to treat Langa like a dump, he said.
“We also need to discourage people from littering and creating dumping sites anywhere where there are bins where they can put their dirt. Langa is littered with dirt and that is not good for our well-being. We have kids playing in these areas.”