Reference is made specifically to indiscriminate littering by individuals in our suburban areas, along our streets, street corners, parks and stormwater drains.
This is not illegal dumping, which is largely done by contractors and/or private individuals just dumping loads of rubble, be it building material or a large amount of waste in open areas around our suburbs.
Indiscriminate littering is the throwing away of rubbish by residents in the suburban areas where they reside and who have little respect for how they perceive the neatness of their suburbs. They expect somebody else to come and clean up after them and are under the impression they create jobs, which they give as an excuse for their actions.
It is astonishing when you do an oversight inside the suburbs and notice how much indiscriminate littering takes place, with no regard for the immediate environment where our residents themselves live. It’s almost as if they think they will get another planet soon to relocate to if this one is totally messed up.
A fact community members must realise is whatever they throw out of their cars while driving or dump at their front gates or on the street corner will inevitably land up in the stormwater system, which feeds back to the water reservoirs, where they will then utilise water for residential use.
Nobody will come and pick the rubbish up for you. The City has greater needs to provide in delivering normal services to communities, such as electricity, water, roads, etc.
Millions of rand is spent to get rid of your trash, and now you create an additional expense which could be avoided by either dumping your litter in a rubbish bin or in a recycling bin.
Adopt the A-Re-Sebetseng initiative, which was started by the mayor of Johannesburg based on the programme run in Kigali, Rwanda, where the community members take control of the situation and offer a few hours of their own time once a month to keep their areas clean.
It is your responsibility to stop the indiscriminate littering and instil the discipline in your community to show that this is unacceptable and totally avoidable.
Councillor Peter Stewart, Ward 125
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