Red-litter day: Pitching in together to clean up inspires pride in our nation

Dalu Cele is the CEO of Clean City South Africa. 

In the past week, South Africans from all walks of life got together as one nation to clean up the mess, debris, grime and litter following the looting and the destruction of properties. It was a sore sight for our country and the world. 

It evoked pride across the nation and was a true testament to community action when ordinary people stepped up to protect shopping malls and their neighbourhoods from looting and destruction.  

Various organisations, companies and ordinary people coordinated their efforts through several groups and social media, helping to ease hunger and offering humanitarian aid. Their action gave hope that communities can wield power to defend their livelihoods and those of others, as one nation.

On a normal day when one walks around some neighbourhoods, towns and in some city centres, such as Johannesburg’s, you find grime, illegal dumping and litter all over the streets and open spaces.

It was encouraging to see such social cohesion. This attested to the fact that people in South Africa are proud of the environment in which they live, work and play.

It also demonstrated that we could do more as a nation to take pride in our areas.

Several questions came to my mind as we watched the cleaning up of the mess: was it enough of an effort? How can South Africans wield their power to change the state of litter around us? How can we ensure that businesses and communities take pride through ongoing action in a coordinated and sustainable manner? How can we use cleaning up to promote social cohesion? How can we get our young people involved, to teach and promote pride in our communities?

The survival of human beings and animals on land and in rivers and oceans depends on the quality of the environment in which they live — on the pollution of the land, rivers and oceans, and of the air through burning waste, plastic and paper.

This is why we should encourage efforts in our industries to move from a linear to a circular economy. Separation at source, re-use and recycling are among the fundamental ways to reduce waste. It makes good business sense and there are benefits to living, working and playing in a clean environment.

An Adopt A Street Volunteers Network team during a Saturday morning clean-up at the corner of Pretoria Street and Catherine Avenue, Hillbrow, Johannesburg. (Photo: Margaret Nkomo)