Mantsopa community to receive Buyisela Eco-Town project

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Pretoria - As part of World Environment Day celebrations, Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Rejoice Mabudafhasi will on Friday hand over a Buyisela Eco-Town project to the Mantsopa community in the Free State.

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has set aside R400 million for the Buyisela Eco-Towns programme that is being rolled out to 10 municipalities.

The project - Buyisela- is an initiative led by the DEA in partnership with Indalo Yethu and the Department of Water Affairs. This initiative aims to create ten eco-towns modelled on sustainability as a legacy project which will serve as a framework or blueprint for other towns to follow.

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1972 at the Stockholm Conference on the human environment.

Commemorated each year on 5 June, the day is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

"In South Africa, June is dedicated to national Environment Month and this year, the month will be observed under the theme 'Many Species. One Planet. One Future', which echoes the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet," the department said in a statement.
A series of events and activities are also scheduled to take place across the country for the duration of the month including the launch of the National Waste Campaign by Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.

The campaign, to be launched at the Dlamini Multi-Purpose Centre in Soweto on Saturday, will form part of the programme of the Coca-Cola 2010 FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour.

It will be used as a platform to call on South Africans to be good hosts and welcome the world to a cleaner SA for 2010 and beyond.