The chairperson of the Thulamela Makhado Adopt-A-River Co-operative (TMAC), Ms Pfarelo Ramugondo, has made an urgent call on communities around the Vhembe District to stop the uncontrolled dumping of solid waste into rivers, on main roads and in villages.
"We are worried about disposable nappies being dumped along our rivers and playgrounds, the deforestation of indigenous plants, the uncontrolled burning of fires (which destroy endemic and indigenous plants), and also the invasion of alien plants," said Ramugondo.
She addressed guests during a stakeholder-engagement function, held at the Khoroni Hotel in Thohoyandou on Thursday, 1 September. The function followed a clean-up excursion, initiated by the Department of Water and Sanitation, to the Tshinane River in Ngudza and a natural spring at Mavhola village that provides drinking water. The aim was to create awareness on pollution and the impact it has on water resources - particularly water quality. Ramugondo joined the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Dikeledi Magadzi, and Vhembe District Executive Mayor Dowelani Nenguda on this mission.
TMAC consists of 456 volunteers from 88 villages within the Makhado and Thulamela Municipalities, of which the majority are women. The volunteers see to the rehabilitation and protection of 36 springs that play a crucial role in supplying water to the communities. The volunteers also clean and remove solid waste from rivers, streams and wetlands and help to conserve wetlands. TMAC conducts voluntarily awareness campaigns in the communities, stressing the importance of protecting water resources by removing alien invasive species in rivers, planting indigenous trees, and installation of waste-collection stands next to the communities to prevent littering and illegal dumping of waste in the environment.
Magadzi told the TMAC volunteers to report anyone who pollutes the rivers and dumps disposable nappies and other solid waste around the villages and main roads to the officers at the department and the Vhembe District Municipality.