By Malakwane Malakwane
QWAQWA – the Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Makhotso Sotyu has promised to create 60 job opportunities in waste collection and recycling, where local young people will benefit in the form of monthly stipends.
Sotyu said this when addressing individuals and NGO’s at Phuthaditjhaba Multipurpose Hall during her visit to Maluti-a-Phofung in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district, as part of District Development Model One plan intervention last Friday.
She also handed over 15 Skippy bins, waste pickers, indigenous and fruit trees, garden tools, personal protective equipment (PPE) to Maluti-a-Phofung, while Thabo Mofutsanyana district received five 5 Skippy bins, in a bid to improve waste collection and management services in the municipalities.
The deputy minister was in the company of Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality executive mayor Masetjhaba Lakaje-Mosia and Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality executive mayor Malefu Vilakazi.
She unveiled a R12-million Environmental Education Centre that was constructed by the Department as per the requirements of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in 2017.
“We came to realize that most municipalities have serious challenges regarding waste collection, and that is where we come in since we cannot afford to be living in a polluted environment. It’s not healthy. The president has given us the task to implement this development model with the objective to improve waste collection services and eradicate all illegal dumpsites which are a major problem in many municipalities across the country that I have already visited,” she said.
Sotyu said intervention came after discovering that many municipalities have serious challenges regarding collection of waste.
Pusetso ya Setjhaba Community Nutrition and Development Centre from Matsikeng village was among the recipients of gardening equipment, in acknowledgement of its role in feeding the less fortunate.
It’s founder Suzan Lakaje expressed her gratitude to the deputy minister and the municipality for acknowledging her organization.
“It’s a great achievement for us as a center and we are very grateful. Since our inception in 2017, our core objective has been to foster harmony in our community, but that cannot be achieved while our people are dying from hunger.”
She said she also works in collaboration with local supermarkets to provide indigent people with food.
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