Five hundred Mdantsane residents braved the pouring rain and came to listen to President Cyril Ramaphosa launching the Good Green Deeds campaign at Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Friday.
The president made the point that he was pulled up by his own children and taught not to litter by them.
Ramaphosa said the campaign conceptualised by the late minister Edna Molewa was one of the most important the government is embarking on. He said the launch was honouring Molewa.
“Edna Molewa was our national champion for climate change. We honour her as we launch this campaign because today is about how we look after our country, and our planet,” he said.
He urged South Africans to preserve and protect the planet for future generations.
“As people of this country we seem to have been waging war against the planet. We seem to have been waging war against ourselves, by not looking after our planet and our country, by littering our country, by illegal dumping and the pollution of our air, pollution of our streets, rivers and our oceans,” Ramaphosa said.
Delivering his speech on a sodden field to people packed into two adjoining marquees, Ramaphosa introduced Daisy Ngedle, 8, as his special guest. Ramaphosa had earlier in the day visited Daisy at her Clarendon Preparatory school following a letter Daisy wrote to the president late last year.
Before going to the stadium Ramaphosa visited the AfriWaste Plastic Pelletisation plant in Fort Jackson industrial area. He was accompanied by premier Phumulo Masualle and a number of ministers and MECs among other dignitaries.
In his speech Ramaphosa urged South Africans to use the campaign as a tool to teach others to take care of the environment.
“There are many things that we can learn from each other; we can even learn from young children. I learnt to stop littering from my own children. This morning I visited one of my new friends, a special friend who wrote a letter to me, Daisy,” he said to loud cheers.
Ramaphosa called Daisy to the podium to greet the crowd who cheered her on her way to the podium.
“This is Daisy my friend. We write letters to each other. They are transparent letters, you can see them. One of the things that Daisy and her friends say is that they have committed themselves to looking after our environment and to stop littering,” Ramaphosa said...