The municipality along with the Department of Government Communication Information System (GCIS) opted to engage with residents in the informal settlement area in the main town of Swellendam regarding the importance of waste management and preservation of service infrastructure and the environment, for this year’s Mandela Day celebrations.

GCIS assisted the municipality with marketing collateral to aid educating residents about the importance and advantages of managing household and personal waste appropriately, as opposed to littering and dumping waste. Community Workers Programme staff further distributed these flyers to various households.
In addition, as part of an environmental awareness initiative, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Local Government Support (LGS) together with the Overberg District Municipality (ODM) aided the municipality with the implementation of its stencilling project.
The stencilling project includes stencilling selected stormwater drain inlets with painted messages aimed at deterring the public from dumping pollutants and litter alongside or directly into stormwater drains. The stencilling project commenced today with the team stencilling a skip as well as a stormwater drain inlet in the informal settlement area and Station Street, respectively. The DFFE LGS plan to stencil a total of ten stormwater drains in the Swellendam area over the course of the next few weeks.

Acting Municipal Manager, Anneleen Vorster as well as Executive Mayor, Francois du Rand and other senior management were also present while activities took place, to further engage with residents. Executive Mayor, Francois du Rand, recently launched a campaign to encourage active citizenry of this nature. The “I AM … CAMPAIGN” i.e. the “I AM SWELLENDAM, I AM BARRYDALE, I AM SUURBRAAK AND BUFFELJAGSRIVIER, and I AM MALGAS, INFANTA and STORMSVLEI” promotes the importance of active citizenry and participation, and further encourages residents to become engaged members of their communities.

Based on the premise that active citizenship is one of the most important elements required to build healthy societies, residents are encouraged to readily take charge of their environment and become agents of change in their communities.

The campaign reiterates that this is a responsibility that each and every community member bears as a resident and citizen. Active citizenry can be as small a gesture as cutting the grass on the sidewalk in front of one’s home, or as big as a campaign to clean up one’s street or educate young people about democratic values, skills, and participation.

Furthermore, Ward Councilors and Ward Committee members are committed to continuing environmental awareness and education of this kind in their wards as they engage with residents throughout the remainder of their term of office.
Ends

For all media enquiries please contact:
Bianca McKechnie
Senior Media and Communications Officer
+27 63 226 3993 / bianca@swellenmun.co.za