Speech by Gauteng MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment Khabisi Mosunkutu at the launch of the Gauteng anti-litter campaign

Programme Director: Councillor Mabona
Executive Mayor of the host District: Councillor Agnes Mlondobozi
Executive mayors present
Members of the various mayoral committees and councillors
Head of Department: Dr Steven Cornelius
General Manager of Research and Strategic Communications at Indalo Yethu
Senior officials and employees of Government present
Representatives of various organisations present here
People of Metsweding
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a pleasure and an honour to be here today and to participate in the launch of this important campaign.

The significance of the campaign may, perhaps, easily get lost in the hustle and bustle of life. To some it may appear quite irrational for a government to allocate time, space and resources to what may appear a humdrum campaign - considering other struggles, including the real battle of putting bread on our tables and getting our children educated.

The reality, however, is that this litter-free campaign has everything to do with our quest to develop healthy, productive and sustainable communities. Studies have shown that a direct and reciprocal relationship exists between waste and human health, epidemic diseases, obnoxious fumes and the scenic beauty of the areas in which we live and bring up our children.

Media has featured some township around Gauteng as being under guerrilla-like attacks from rodents that are reportedly the size of cats. We also know for a fact that discarded newspapers, plastics and other domestic waste has laid to waste important infrastructure with the consequences that, in instances, people are forced to carefully tread around their yards - avoiding sewer. Another stark reality is that we are amongst the chief culprits in this waste generation and careless disposal of waste. The large volumes of waste that we currently generate outstrip the environment's capacity to accommodate it.

Studies by the United Nations confirm that population density, socio-economic development, or higher gross domestic product and the ever changing household consumption patterns are amongst the key drivers of waste. As a province we have these drivers and more. Gauteng is the smallest province in the country, constituting only 1.4 % of the country's land surface. However, we have the second highest population size. The province uses 28% of the nation's fuel sources and is also the most industrialised province in the country.

Having said this, I hastily need to scupper any idea that may exist to the effect that it is only the industry that contributes to waste, pollution and environmental degradation. As members of households, we carelessly discard old furniture by dumping it into rivers, we throw contents of our waste containers into open spaces and dump car tyres into rivers. Plastic containers and bags carelessly get thrown on our streets, not by industrialist, but by ourselves. The reality is that the waste and pollution that we generate place additional enormous pressure on the ecosystem and unless we change the way we think about waste, pressure will intensify. Increased demand for resources, generation of pollution and waste, rapid urbanisation and unsustainable resource use practices will further complicate the untenable situation.

We also need to bear in mind that the manner in which we treat the waste that we generate has a bearing on climate change. A report of the United Nations, dated February 2007, shows that the world's average surface temperature has increased by around 0.74°C over the past 100 years (1906-2005) and that warming of about 0.2°C is projected for each of the next two decades.

It is of vital importance to note that the report 'confirms that it is that humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases have caused most of the global temperature rise observed since the mid-20th century. The report further says that it is likely that effect of human activity since 1750 is five times greater than the effect of fluctuations in the sun's output'.

Friends and colleagues, we obviously are here not to mourn the damage that we continue to inflict on the environment. Rather we are here to commit ourselves to practically take steps to reduce waste and protect our environment. In addition to signing a pledge committing us and your municipalities to work for your cleaner environment, we also need to work hand-in- glove with our Bontle Ke Botho project to ensure that we maintain our areas litter-free. Through our ward committees, and working through our community development workers, we should agree on tactics to achieve this goal.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Gauteng Provincial Government
5 June 2007