The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development, Mrs Lydia Johnson together with eThekwini Deputy Mayor Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala and a hundred volunteers effectively used a clean-up campaign to mark the 67 minutes of goodwill of celebrating Nelson Mandela’s birthday on 18 July 2011.
They infiltrated eThekwini’s iNanda taxi rank and picked up litter in the taxi stands, along the street vendors stands and on the pavement along the main streets. They also stopped and talked to commuters, taxi drivers and vendors about keeping their environment clean. ” Managing waste here will protect your health against diseases because we all need to work in a clean environment where we can breathe fresh air.
So, this is not just about marking Nelson Mandela’s Birthday but an awareness campaign that must reach our people everywhere” said Johnson. She also reminded people that the province and particularly the city of eThekwini will play host to the Climate Change conference, COP 17 in December. Johnson and Councillor Shabalala also looked at some points where the municipality needs to put more rubbish bins in the taxi rank.
From the rank, the motorcade proceeded to Cato Manor where they joined a group of women in cleaning a stream that has been choked up by alien weed, went to an illegal dumping site off Mary Thipe Street and then toured the whole of Cato Manor, Mayville and Chesterville. They were later joined by eThekwini’s 1st resident, the Mayor Councillor James Nxumalo who encouraged residents to heed the call to use 67 minutes of their time to do something worthwhile. The tour ended up at Wiggins Hall in Cator Manor where the MEC and the Mayor addressed all volunteers.
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development
