A group of five University of Johannesburg students demonstrated their commitment to keeping Alexandra a vibrant and clean township by forming a campaign named KasiKlean to remove ideologies about waste management and recycling not being important.
The group includes Francis Matianyi, Kholofelo Matjea, Mueletshedzi Mphephu, Sade Okoro-Obong, and Keoagile Ruele.
On 8 May they cleaned up along Roosevelt Street from 1st Avenue to 17th Avenue and according to the students, the purpose of the clean-up was to keep an energetic and full of excitement township like Alex clean with less environmental pollution and it was also part of their school project.
They say the campaign will keep going even though it started as a school project. “We want to get as many people in Alexandra to engage in self-managed cleaning activities through weekly group segmentation.
“This may be done to encourage reuse of waste such as for recreational activities given to youth centres, beginning in such a manner will transcend to something that may be kept in the culture of Alexandra,” Okoro-Obong said.
“Doing this campaign has taught us a lot, not only for the community to be involved but to know what is happening around them and knowing that they too can do something about keeping their environment clean,” Matjea added.
All five students are studying toward an honour’s degree in strategic communication which is about using purposeful communication to reach goals and create a sustainable future.
With the go-ahead from the university to execute the campaign, the group sees a potential in Alex that it may one day become one of the most productive township areas in terms of greening and a cleaner environment.
In conclusion, Mphephu told Alex News that he and his fraternity’s next move is to re-green more parts of the country by collaborating with local waste management committees and community members.
