Cape Times reports that government has committed to supporting municipalities to improve waste management with the creation of 2,000 work opportunities per province for a period of 12 months.

Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said waste management was an area that was receiving considerable attention in this financial year. Creecy tabled her department’s budget vote speech in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) where she stated that the government would reinvigorate the Presidential Good Green Deeds programme to focus on cleaning and greening in provincial capitals. “Our programme will see the creation of 2,000 work opportunities per province for a period of 12 months, to support municipalities in the provincial capitals to clean up dump sites, plant trees and stop littering in selected streets. In these cities additional support will also be given to ensure waste management authorities have access to yellow fleet, and there is a greater focus on improving landfill compliance and support for the diversion of waste to recycling activities,” Creecy indicated. According to Creecy, in SA about 80,000 tons of plastic leaked into rivers and oceans as a result of failures in the waste management system. “Severe financial management challenges mean many municipalities are not able to expand household waste collection, and some areas which previously had regular waste removal no longer have a weekly service,” she noted.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Okuhle Hlati at Cape Times

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