A passage at Entokozweni section in Rabie Ridge Ext 4 was cleaned up to rid it of criminal elements that had engulfed the area.
The clean-up campaign is one of the initiatives started by Ward 80 councillor Makgoba Pagadi and is a bimonthly exercise which aims to identify areas that have become a health hazard due to littering and illegal dumping.
On 9 May, Pagadi with members of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, Pikitup, Environmental Health, the Community Workers Programme and ward committee members joined hands to clean up the area.
Pagadi said, “We identified Entokozweni because it is a small passage between Kanana and Rabie Ridge and many people use it. There have been complaints of people being robbed and it raised concern because schoolchildren also use it. We believe that now that it is clean, it will be safe.”
Part of the duties of the day included sweeping up sand washed down by the rain, repainting road markings and unblocking drains. The Department of Environmental Health at the City provided health education to informal traders and placed rodent bait in burrows to address the growing number of rats in the area. Pikitup also removed illegal dumping. About 120 bags of rubbish were collected.
“I am in talks with relevant stakeholders to turn the illegal dumping sites into business sites for local entrepreneurs which could also assist unemployed youth in the area. I would also like to encourage the community to stop illegal dumping. A clean area is a safe area,” concluded Pagadi.
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