Environment Khabisi Mosunkutu at the launch of the Gauteng anti-litter
campaign
5 June 2007
Programme Director: Councillor Mabona
Executive Mayor of the host District: Councillor Agnes Mlondobozi
Executive mayors present
Members of the various mayoral committees and councillors
Head of Department: Dr Steven Cornelius
General Manager of Research and Strategic Communications at Indalo Yethu
Senior officials and employees of Government present
Representatives of various organisations present here
People of Metsweding
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a pleasure and an honour to be here today and to participate in the
launch of this important campaign.
The significance of the campaign may, perhaps, easily get lost in the hustle
and bustle of life. To some it may appear quite irrational for a government to
allocate time, space and resources to what may appear a humdrum campaign -
considering other struggles, including the real battle of putting bread on our
tables and getting our children educated.
The reality, however, is that this litter-free campaign has everything to do
with our quest to develop healthy, productive and sustainable communities.
Studies have shown that a direct and reciprocal relationship exists between
waste and human health, epidemic diseases, obnoxious fumes and the scenic
beauty of the areas in which we live and bring up our children.
Media has featured some township around Gauteng as being under
guerrilla-like attacks from rodents that are reportedly the size of cats. We
also know for a fact that discarded newspapers, plastics and other domestic
waste has laid to waste important infrastructure with the consequences that, in
instances, people are forced to carefully tread around their yards â avoiding
sewer. Another stark reality is that we are amongst the chief culprits in this
waste generation and careless disposal of waste. The large volumes of waste
that we currently generate outstrip the environment's capacity to accommodate
it.
Studies by the United Nations confirm that population density,
socio-economic development, or higher gross domestic product and the ever
changing household consumption patterns are amongst the key drivers of waste.
As a province we have these drivers and more. Gauteng is the smallest province
in the country, constituting only 1.4 % of the country's land surface. However,
we have the second highest population size. The province uses 28% of the
nation's fuel sources and is also the most industrialised province in the
country.
Having said this, I hastily need to scupper any idea that may exist to the
effect that it is only the industry that contributes to waste, pollution and
environmental degradation. As members of households, we carelessly discard old
furniture by dumping it into rivers, we throw contents of our waste containers
into open spaces and dump car tyres into rivers. Plastic containers and bags
carelessly get thrown on our streets, not by industrialist, but by ourselves.
The reality is that the waste and pollution that we generate place additional
enormous pressure on the ecosystem and unless we change the way we think about
waste, pressure will intensify. Increased demand for resources, generation of
pollution and waste, rapid urbanisation and unsustainable resource use
practices will further complicate the untenable situation.
We also need to bear in mind that the manner in which we treat the waste
that we generate has a bearing on climate change. A report of the United
Nations, dated February 2007, shows that the world's average surface
temperature has increased by around 0.74°C over the past 100 years (1906â2005)
and that warming of about 0.2°C is projected for each of the next two
decades.
It is of vital importance to note that the report 'confirms that it is that
humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other
greenhouse gases have caused most of the global temperature rise observed since
the mid-20th century. The report further says that it is likely that effect of
human activity since 1750 is five times greater than the effect of fluctuations
in the sun's output'.
Friends and colleagues, we obviously are here not to mourn the damage that
we continue to inflict on the environment. Rather we are here to commit
ourselves to practically take steps to reduce waste and protect our
environment. In addition to signing a pledge committing us and your
municipalities to work for your cleaner environment, we also need to work
hand-in- glove with our Bontle Ke Botho project to ensure that we maintain our
areas litter-free. Through our ward committees, and working through our
community development workers, we should agree on tactics to achieve this
goal.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Gauteng
Provincial Government
5 June 2007
