Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has urged South Africans to take part in the "Operation Clean Up for Madiba" campaign to commemorate Nelson Mandela Day.
“We should demonstrate our love for our beautiful country by cleaning our surroundings, together. In this way, we will be promoting working together to build our beautiful country, which is what Madiba taught us as South Africans,” President Zuma said on Monday.
President Zuma urged people to reflect on how they dispose of waste.
“We call upon learners in particular, as our future, to make their schools clean learning environments, without paper or garbage strewn around, so that they can build a proud nation that is comfortable in its surroundings in future.”
He also urged municipalities to use this campaign as a way to improve refuse removal services in under-serviced communities.
The campaign, he said, will contribute to a cleaner, safer and healthier environment and communities.
The President will play his part by participating in an Operation Clean Up activity at the Nelson Mandela School of Science and Technology in Mvezo in the Eastern Cape, before opening the Mvezo Komkhulu Museum.
The Operation Clean Up for Madiba campaign, which the President first mooted during the State of Nation Address last month, will build on existing environmental programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme initiatives, including Working on Waste, Wetlands, Water, Fire and the Environmental Youth Services Programmes.
Together, these programmes have created 744 589 work opportunities and 205 005 full-time equivalent jobs since 2009, of which more than half of these beneficiaries were youth.
The campaign is part of promoting the country’s growing green economy.
The United Nations in November 2009 officially declared the struggle icon's birthday on July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day. – SAnews.gov.za
