KTC Health Forum members rolled up their sleeves and to clean the neighbourhood on Saturday 23 September.
The forum, which specifically deals with the health issues in the area, stated that the initiative came after they noticed the increasing amount of illegal dumping in the area due to the suspension of waste collection in the Cape Flats by the City after two private security guards were gunned down at Island in Lower Crossroads a fortnight ago. (“City withdraws after staff attack”, City Vision, 21 September).
The forum chair Yolisa Qangani described the initiative as a special event. He said forum members felt they couldn’t fold their arms while their area was filthy.
He stated that they targeted the vicinity outside Masincedane Clinic. “This is one of many cleaning campaigns we are doing as a forum in the area,” he said. “While people were celebrating Heritage weekend, our focus was to ensure that our area was clean. The rubbish had not been collected for more than four months. So we decided to take this initiative to clean it.”
Qangani described the initiative as an attempt to educate the community about the importance of hygiene and environmental preservation.
He urged the residents to take ownership of their areas and not allow illegal dumping to occur.
Ward 38 councillor Suzanne Zumana described the campaign as a great initiative. She urged other community stakeholders to come on board and assist.
Zumana stated that illegal dumping had become a challenge since the City suspended the collection of rubbish in the community.
“Besides crime in the ward, we have other challenges like potholes, cable theft, drain bursts, and so on. I am pleading with the people to inform my office so I can report to the relevant department in the City.”
