SA, Japan sign Mahikeng waste management pact

This after the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Japan International Agency (JICA) to support Mahikeng Local Municipality with its solid waste management.

Representing JICA at the signing ceremony, Hiroyuki Kinomoto, said: "This is a historic day for us as we are enhancing our cooperation with the South African government.

"JICA's support is in the form of an approval of a follow-up scheme to the tune of R920,000 to support activities to improve the waste management services of Mahikeng."

He said this will involve a visit by JICA's experts on waste management to give technical support to the municipality. A national seminar on waste management with municipalities will also be held, while bins and skips will be provided to the municipality.

The deployment of JICA's waste management experts to give hands on support to the municipality for a period of two years is also being mulled.

Director-General of Cooperative Governance, Vusi Madonsela, said the intervention will not only benefit Mahikeng as a pilot project, but other municipalities are likely to enjoy the benefits during the roll-out of the programme.

"Through this partnership with JICA, it is expected that there will be a significant improvement on the waste management services of Mahikeng," he said.

Mahikeng Municipal Manager Kgotso Rabanye said: "We hope that the two experts' participation, who are going to be deployed in Mahikeng next year in February, will help to change the image of our town and I'm appealing to residents to cooperate by working with us."

Representing the Provincial Local Government, Deputy Director-General Monnapula Motlogelwa, said: We will play our role of supporting, monitoring and working together with the municipality. As a department we do commitment to this initiative and through our support, we will ensure that this project is a success, we believe that the province will also cascade to other municipalities in the province."

Cleaning up Mahikeng

Parliament instructed Cogta to give the necessary support to Mahikeng to help the municipality clean up its streets.

A team comprising the Provincial Department of Local Government and Human Settlements and the Department of Environmental Affairs was established to work with the municipality and coordinate possible interventions to promote cleanliness.

The team is led by a senior official at Cogta, Thomas Kolokoto, who completed environmental management training in Japan under the JICA.

Mahikeng has been identified as a pilot for the country and an action plan was developed to focus on improving the solid waste management of the council.

The goal of the signed MoU is to promote a clean and healthy environment in Mahikeng by improving solid waste collection through coordination and strengthening of local government as well as citizen participation.

However, the objectives of the MoU are to support the municipality in the development and implementation of effective and efficient solid waste collection methods; promote citizen participation for a healthy and clean environment as well as improve the coordination of stakeholders and support programmes relating to solid waste management.