Schools bag big prizes for recycling
EQINISWENI Primary and Mbilwi Secondary School emerged as overall winners at this year’s schools recycling programme (SRP) awards.
The event was held yesterday at Sanlam Auditorium at the University of Johannesburg.
The SRP is a Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) initiative that takes responsibility for collecting post-consumer waste as well as raising awareness about the importance of waste management and recycling among learners and communities.
Overall winners walked away with R50000 each, second place received R30 000 and third place bagged R20 000.
An ecstatic Eqinisweni Primary school principal, Venable Msomi, said the school had 1 500 learners, and the awards had motivated them and their partners to continue on the journey.
“We work with parents and local business owners,” Msomi said.
Msomi added that he was excited that they were walking away with the prize money for the school.
Mbilwi High School head of department, Kenneth Mulovhedzi, said the school was in a rural area and they did not have proper infrastructure.
“Our plan is to make sure we have a place where we can have all these projects displayed and where our learners can work,” Mulovhedzi said.
He added that they worked together with parents who were skilled in the arts and came to educate the children.
“This is a collective achievement for the school and parents,” he said.
The Queen soapie actress Zenande Mfenyana, musician Sho Madjozi and Miss Earth SA 2019 Lungo Katete were in attendance.
CCBSA managing director, Velaphi
Ratshefola said for pupils to have a better future they had to create a movement, and it was their responsibility to educate and train the learners to determine a better future from the corporates.
“As a company, we have committed to a world without waste by 2030. It’s our responsibility to be part of the solution and not the problem,” Ratshefola said.
Department of Environment Affairs Deputy Minister Makhotso Sotyu said they had partnered with the Department of Basic Education to launch a “Fundisa or Change” initiative, which would seek to support a transformative environmental learning that teaches existing environmental content in a new curriculum. |