Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has launched the City’s annual Spring Clean Cape Town campaign at a mass clean-up event in Blue Downs together with Alderman Grant Twigg, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management.
As part of the #SpringCleanCT campaign, the City will expand cleaning operations city-wide, and is calling on the public to get involved by picking up litter or organising a spring clean in communities.
A 24-hour toll-free number (0800 110077) has also been set up for residents to report illegal dumping tip-offs in exchange for a reward where this leads to arrests.
This year’s campaign edition will have a big focus on the City’s anti-litter mascot Bingo, who will be touring schools, malls, and intersections to remind Capetonians to always ‘Bin it in the Bingo bin!’ Bingo was named following a public suggestion process, and is modelled on the City’s green litter bins, of which there are several thousand across the city.
‘With these annual spring clean campaigns, we are hoping to entrench a culture of never littering in Cape Town, and to encourage the public to get involved in community clean-ups. We are also driving a culture of pride within the City, to ensure that Cape Town is sparkling clean as we enter summer peak tourism season, welcoming tens of thousands of visitors and the economic benefits they bring.
‘We call on the public to get involved, let’s get our communities, parks, streets, waterways, and beaches looking sparkling clean this spring,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
‘We have been able to clear around 200 000 additional bags of litter across Cape Town as part of annual spring clean-up campaign efforts by the City, residents, civil society, schools, and businesses. For this year’s campaign, we challenge residents to help us break all records for waste collection, let’s clean our city like never before. The City will also scale-up area cleaning operations ahead of the busy tourism season,’ said Alderman Twigg.
The City is further making major investments in urban waste management, including R580 million over three years for new refuse removal vehicles and plant to ensure a reliable service
In the coming year alone, the City will further spend around R160m on waste recycling and minimisation initiatives, as well as R252 million for door-to-door waste collection and area cleaning in informal settlements.
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