Cape Town - Solid waste, ranging from vehicle parts to panels and waste wood, was just some of the waste collected in Woodstock this week during a massive clean-up by a team of volunteers and members of the Asez group (Saving the Earth from A to Z), their families, colleagues, and some city councillors.
While getting down and dirty, they appealed to Woodstock residents to protect their environment as they collected about 4 000 litres of household waste, such as plastic pieces and disposable cups scattered all over the street, as well as solid waste items.
The Asez group forms part of the World Mission Society Church of God which strives to make the Earth a sustainable home for mankind, and thus they set out to conduct one their many clean-up operation around Cape Town – this time cleaning the Woodstock area.
On May 14, the group gathered in Fairview Road Park and made their way cleaning up all kinds of trash along Victoria Road, passing Woodstock KFC, down the side roads, along Albert Road, and all the way back to Fairview Road Park.
This area was targeted as there was a concentration of food and factory businesses, so garbage often piled up.
Water and sanitation mayoral committee (Mayco) member Zahid Badroodien also joined the clean-up and said: “The amount of litter found in the community is an indication of people’s disregard and lack of pride in their community.
“Woodstock is a major thoroughfare for taxis, buses and private vehicles. I have seen that people litter too easily out of these vehicles and into the streets while commuting. There is also an element of dumping as informal waste collectors dispose of the waste which has no value to them.”
One of the Asez volunteers, Lesedi Mokgautsi, picked up the trash while sweating and said: “We hope the Woodstock residents are moved by today’s clean-up and think about what they should be doing to take care of our community.”
Lutho Mayeko, the branch manager for Asez Cape Town, explained that they have been carrying out global environmental protection activities such as street, water quality, and forest environment improvement activities in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng for nearly 10 years.
Mayeko said Asez was actively participating in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the international community, and they were widely active around the world.
“We are taking the lead in environmental protection by carrying out environmental cleaning activities at city, regional and national levels in each country,” Mayeko said.
Badroodien said keeping the city clean was everyone’s responsibility and Asez was an amazing organisation that has been driving the “Let’s act for a cleaner Cape Town” message across a number of communities.
