Kasi youth tackle illegal dumping head-on!

YOUNG Life South Africa in Hammanskraal, Tshwane embarks on a cleaning campaign.

The organisation members said this will help bring a solution to illegal dumping that has become a headache in most communities.

On Saturday, 21 September, young members of the organisation from areas such as Kekana Gardens, Refilwe, and Portion 12 joined hands to clean an illegal dumping site near the entrance of Dinokeng Game Reserve.

Jacob Lebelo from the organisation said this is one way of keeping young people off the streets by involving them in various initiatives, including this one.

He said illegal dumping is a serious challenge in many communities and they're striving to keep their area clean.

Speaking to Daily Sun, Jacob said this initiative is important to them as the cleaning will assist in attracting tourists to Dinokeng.

"One of our visions is to involve young people in community initiatives. Since we come from areas close to Dinokeng, which is a tourist destination, we saw it fit to participate in the last week of the World Clean-up Campaign.

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"We teach our young people to be responsible and to give back to their communities through such initiatives," he said.

Jacob said they'll be approaching the management of Dinokeng to turn the site into a park, hoping that in this way it will be cared for and be appealing to tourists and residents around the area.

John Mabotja, liaison manager from Dinokeng Game Reserve, said this is about creating a clean environment not only for the community but also for the reserve, as it is a tourist destination. He said the plan is to make this a continuous project so that people get used to keeping the area clean.

"We also want to start an illegal dumping awareness programme, involving various stakeholders to educate our communities and shed some light on how we can win this fight against dump sites that are mushrooming everywhere."

One of the organisations that came to support the campaign was Siyaphanda.

Patricia Phiri from Siyaphanda said as residents from Kekana, they'd like to see this area being clean as dirt can affect their health and animals as well.

She said it is the organisation's plan to establish a cleaning programme, adding that they're still looking for sponsors who can help create job opportunities for the unemployed.