As part of Mandela Week activities in July, SST met with the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor’s executive team to share our vision of “Zero plastics to the seas of Africa” and discuss how inroads could be made to make the Bay a cleaner and more sustainably-minded city.
The meeting also aligned with our flagship project, Operation Clean Spot, which calls on businesses and individuals to adopt a spot in their neighbourhoods that they commit to keep clean up, logging each cleanup on our interactive map.
The meeting’s success was later showcased by Mayor Gary van Niekerk’s signing of a Waste Management Pledge for the city.
The pledge reads:
“We, the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, civil society formations, business representatives and political leadership, pledge that we will work together to ensure that all 60 wards of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality are kept clean by promoting anti-littering behaviour and adhering to sustainable waste management standards and practices. We will work towards implementing circular economy principles and creating income-generating opportunities from waste, to ensure that Nelson Mandela Bay is the first municipality in Africa to achieve zero waste flowing into the environment.”
SST looks forward to being a part of the next stage of the process and working with stakeholders to outline the targeted actions that will make the city the first city in Africa to reach a clean city status.
