Hundreds of volunteers and residents joined in a clean-up day at Masiphumelele wetlands in an ongoing effort to protect the environment and to eradicate illegal dumping.
The clean-up operation on Thursday 22 September was a collaboration between Table Mountain National Park (TMNP), Take Back Our Mountains (TBOM), Blue Ribbon, Pick n Pay, and Clorox Africa.
Babalwa Dlangamandla, Public Relations Officer for TMNP, said the purpose of the clean-up was to encourage the community to keep the wetland clean and free from litter by restoring it to its natural habitat.
“We are at Masiphumelele wetlands to conduct a clean-up to make sure we clear this area of all the pollution because wetlands play an important role in our biodiversity and we have to make sure that the community understands the importance of looking after the wetlands because there are animals that live here.”
She added that it was important to conserve the area to preserve it for future generations.
“We would like to encourage the community that whatever they are doing in the wetlands they need to make sure to look after this particular area, such as no illegal dumping in the wetlands, because it is against our policy and mandate and it is up to them to make sure they preserve these areas for future generations.
“So, this is going to be an ongoing partnership to identify the areas that we can conduct clean-ups on. It doesn’t end here only in this area.
“We will be exploring other areas in the park too to make sure we educate the public to look after the environment because the environment plays an important role for us as well.”
The South African National Parks (SANParks) team conducted an Environmental Education talk to highlight the importance of conserving wetlands which they explained provided food and shelter for many animals such as bird species, and amphibians such as frogs.
Luyanda Lombo, TMNP SET Officer, said they wanted to create awareness about the devastating effect of illegal dumping on wetlands. “Illegal dumping remains a problem in South Africa, and in many parts of the world, and I would like to encourage the community members to preserve this wetland as it plays an important role in Table Mountain National Park. We are grateful for the support we received from our partners including Chrysalis Academy, City of Cape Town and Pinelands High School.”
Taahir Osman, founder of TBOM, said a total of 562 litter bags were collected during the campaign.
“A total of 562 litter bags were collected from the wetland because of illegal dumping. This will be an ongoing initiative targeting other areas of the park too. Together we can do more to keep our wetlands clean.
“We partnered in this clean-up initiative and we aim to do this every four to five weeks.”
Osman added the wetlands are rich with animal life and therefore need to be protected.
“Litter affects animal life and pollutes the water. We will have a talk with the community about taking care of the environment and we are also building a good relationship with the community leaders.”
Marilyn Hoole, co-founder of Tears Animal Rescue, who joined in the clean-up, said education was key in keeping the area clean.
“It’s really a privilege to be here this morning to help with the clean-up of the wetlands. You know, you don’t realise how people struggle to live in these areas and we need to help them to help clean up the areas in which they have to survive.
“I think it is all about education. Educating the community to take care of the environment will help them not to pick up diseases and infections from all this rubbish lying around.
“I do hope we can continue to do this and help the people to have a better environment in which to live. Masiphumelele is very close to my heart because when we started Tears it was to help the residents of Masi, which was a newly formed settlement back in 1999.
Reece Carelsen, an intern at SANParks who was one of many volunteers, said they picked up all kinds of rubbish from tins to plastic bags.
“A lot of issues stem from the socio-economic background because people do not have access to efficient facilities and a lot of the litter comes from dumping.
“Today we picked up litter from aluminium tins to plastic bags, sanitary products and everything under the sun.”
