stewardship
23 March 2007
It is official that the City of Cape Town and Swartland Local Municipality
are the cleanest in South Africa. This announcement was made by the Deputy
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi at
the Cleanest Town Awards, taking place in Johannesburg alongside the National
Waste Management Conference, organised by the Departments of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism and Provincial and Local Government.
The awards which carry a one million rand grand prize for the winning metro
and municipality is presented annually to those who have demonstrated sound
environmental stewardship at a local government level. Speaking at the awards,
Mabudafhasi said, "Municipalities also have a huge role to motivate, train and
coach the communities to focus on waste management projects for the benefit of
local socio-economic development. Every participant in the Cleanest Town
Competition is a winner regardless of not taking an award back home. The bigger
incentive should be contributing to sustainable development and creating a
legacy one would be proud to leave behind as a gift to future generations."
The total prize pool is an awesome R4,5 million allocated through DEAT's
social responsibility programme. The runners up in the Metro Category are
Nelson Mandela and City of Johannesburg in 2nd and 3rd places respectively,
whilst Greater Tzaneen and Steve Tshwete Local Municipalities grabbed 2nd and
3rd runners in the local municipality category.
Earlier in the day, unaware of the great success which has befell the two
Western Cape winners, MEC for Environmental Affairs and Development Planning,
Ms Tasneem Essop, simply said, "for us in the Western Cape, environmental
management constitutes a key element of our Ikapa Elihlumayo Sustainable
Development Framework, an integrated strategy for economic development, growth
and social cohesion in the province."
It was further expected that the Deputy President, Ms Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, will further outline government's commitment to investment and
improved service delivery in waste management as she closes the conference on
Friday, 23 March, following the President's State of the Nation Address where
dirt and squalor in our poor areas where given a broadside and energised the
two departments to fast-track waste management interventions at a local
level.
For further information, please contact:
Ms Moses Randitsheni
Media Liaison Officer: Office of the Deputy Minister
Cell: 082 448 2450
Blessing Manale
Chief Director Communications, DEAT
Cell: 082 677 1630
Molefe Molamu
Communications-Environmental Quality and Protection
Tel: (012) 310 3730
Fax: (012) 320 0024
Cell: 082 561 6261
E-mail: imolamu@ozone.pwv.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
23 March 2007
