Youth tackle environmental affairs

KwaThema – The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), together with Delta Environmental Centre to implement the Youth Environmental Services (YES) programme in Gauteng, took to the streets for a much-needed clean-up last week.

The programme is set up to expose the youth to practical community work, accredited and non-accredited training and theory.

The students are placed in various local schools to perform different activities and be exposed to the work environment while learning teaching skills, administration, planning and organising, communication and leadership skills.

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“We need more young people who understand issues of environmental management.

“This allows the students to be responsible individuals.

“The youth in the programme now have a good understanding of environmental management and has developed good values and ethics towards the environment,” explains Sandile Ngcobo of DEA.

The programme employs the youth of Gauteng through a learnership to study towards environmental education, provided they have matric and are below 35 years old.

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Millicent Mazibuko, the founder of Our Future Community Development Non-Government Organisation, says she participated in the programme to better the community.

“The only way we can contribute to our environment is when we know exactly what it needs, and we take care of it.”

The students cleaned illegal dumping sites and also educated the community, through paintings, about the importance of keeping the environment clean.

“People need to understand how much damage they are causing when they litter and vandalise.

“Hopefully, this will make them think twice next time they want to throw a piece of paper on the ground,” she says.