North West MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs, China Dodovu has welcomed the initiative undertaken by the North West University’s (NWU) Potchefstroom Campus which has recently opened a pro bono office on its Potchefstroom campus for assisting local municipalities in the province with free advice on environmental management and impact studies.
MEC Dodovu says the project comes at a crucial time when the environment is under siege to a point of decline due to factors such as climate change, poor waste collection by municipalities, air pollution as well water pollution. “We need to embark on programmes that promote sustainable development and we can only achieve this if we partner and mobilize all spheres of government, including the private sector. Our communities, especially young people must be part of message drivers of working towards protecting the environment”, says MEC Dodovu.
The NWU has been chosen as ideal for opening the first pro bono office as a pilot project, following an investigation by the Department of Environmental Affairs at various South African universities. The Department of Environmental Affairs is funding the project to the tune of R3 million for a period of three years with the expectation that it will become self-sustainable.
According to Professor Francois Retief of the research unit in environmental science and management at the Potchefstroom campus, “local governments find themselves in a very complex management environment and they often don’t have the expertise and resources to cope with accompanying challenges’.
Prof Retief is the coordinator of the pro bono project whilst JP de Villiers is the professional environmental consultant who will also run the office. As part of their practical work, several honours students of the subject group geography and environmental management have been selected and are already busy with 16 projects in the province. They assist, amongst others, Ventersdorp and Ditsobotla local municipalities.
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Dineo Lolokwane
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