While other young people decide to sit on the street corners of the township and do nothing all day, others are using their free time for the benefit of the community.
The filthiness and a bad smell from an illegal dumping site next to Laban Mothlabi Secondary School are no longer a problem, thanks to the Mthembu Village Community Project.
The project consists of about 20 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years.
According to the project’s PRO, Vusi Masemola, their fight against illegal dumping started in 2007, but, due to the challenges with which they were faced, they were forced to stop their work.
He said that this year they saw the need to clean the illegal dumping site that has not only posed a threat to the health of the residents living next to it, but was also turned into a hiding place for criminals, who set themselves up to rob children and senior citizens.
Masemola explained that, because they want to turn the illegal dumping site into a community park, they are appealing to the metro to fence the area, provide them with the tools they need to keep the area clean, water, jungle gyms, a ”No illegal dumping area” sign board and chairs inside the park.
“We work without expecting a salary at the end of the month and we need support from the metro and the community,” said Masemola.
Styles Molefe, one of the residents living near the site, confirmed the discomfort caused by the illegal dumping that takes place in the vicinity of their homes.
He said the bad smell coming from the site as a result of dead dogs that are dumped in that area is unbearable.
“These young people are doing a great job to ensure a healthy community and prevent the diseases that may have been caused by the filthiness coming from the illegal dumping site, as children play there,” said Curtis Mahlangu, one of the senior citizens living next to the illegal dumping site.
He added the project needs the community’s assistance by means of food or cash donation for lunch, as these young people voluntarily spend their time from Monday to Saturday, turning an illegal dumping site to a park that will benefit the community.
