Ethekwini takes national honours for greenest municipality
THE ethekwini Municipality has been declared the greenest municipality in the country, for its waste management, landscaping, tree planting and beautification programmes.
The awards, which were bestowed by the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs Barbara Thomson in Durban recently, are aimed at encouraging municipalities to promote a clean and healthy environment through various exercises.
Judging also delved into the city’s handling of waste management, energy efficiency, conservation, water management and community empowerment.
For the honour, the city received R3.5 million, to be injected into infrastructure projects aimed at the protection of the environment.
On receiving the award, mayor Zandile Gumede said: “It takes a team of dedicated officials who are passionate to drive these initiatives and make them a reality.
“It takes much support, collaborations and partnerships with the provincial and national government departments and fellow municipalities to implement our imperative initiatives.”
Before the awards ceremony, Thomson led clean-up campaigns where six tons of litter was collected in Durban central and the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve, Durban North.
The mayor called on all South Africans to become environmentally conscious.
“It is our obligation to ensure that our surroundings are clean and that we keep our environment in a good state for the benefit of the current and the future generations.
“Cleaning our streets and beaches should not be a one-day activity. It should be embedded in our daily habits.
“We must stop littering and start using the infrastructure provided to collect and recycle waste,” she said.
Thomson’s clean-ups were undertaken in partnership with the city as part of her department’s effort to raise awareness on how plastic pollution had impacted the environment, especially the oceans.
The clean-up activity was also a part of ethekwini’s Operation Khuculul’itheku, a long-term multiplier clean-up campaign aimed at creating a clean environment.