Pikitup workers giving the Sol Plaatje informal settlement Spring cleaning (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

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Some residents joined Pikitup in sprucing up their area (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

Mass clean-up for Sol Plaatje Troops of volunteers, armed with brooms, disposal bags and heavy machinery, descended on the Sol Plaatje informal settlement to give the area a thorough scrub ahead of Spring. August 31, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka A MASS clean-up in the informal settlement of Sol Plaatje on Tuesday, 29 August saw a group of community members, marshalled by staff from Pikitup, arm themselves with sticks, rubbish bags and gloves, to mount an assault on waste. Pikitup, the council's waste disposal company, led the offensive, with units of cleaners deployed throughout the settlement for the operation. They swept the streets, picked up litter and cleared rubble from streets, pavements, open spaces and other filthy parts. The emerald Pikitup trucks journeyed around the settlement, collecting full rubbish bags. The joint operation between Pikitup and the community is intended to forge strong relationships between the community and government in promoting a safe and healthy environment in time for the upcoming 2010 World Cup. Ward 71 of Region C, Councillor Lufuno Alfred Mudau, said, "We want to teach our people to keep their environment clean." "We are trying to teach the community to be prepared for the 2010 [World Cup]," he added. Deeply hidden in the Roodepoort Durban Deep mine dumps, the settlement has its fair share of poverty, from youth roaming the dusty streets to streams of unhygienic substances coursing around the plus-minus 1 500 shacks. According to Mudau, the clean-up is a way of personally involving community members in a bid to encourage them to lead their own government in the future. "I feel happy as a volunteer that I have participated in cleaning my community," said steering committee member of Sol Plaatje informal settlement, Bridget Nkutu. Nkutu added that she is quite capable of cleaning her own house and that there is no reason why anyone else should clean the community she lives inn. Despite the fact that the community turn-out of plus-minus 4 000 was only a handful, Mudau said, "I'm happy that our community participated, even though some [people] were not happy to become part of the day." In the next two weeks, the clean-up will also cover areas around the Sol Plaatje area that include Mathollesville, Plot B of Princess Plots, Leratong, Plot 8 on Progress Road and Davidsonville. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za