South Africa and Zimbabwe have joined hands in making their borders a litter-free environment.

This became evident when Zimbabweans and South Africans took part in a cross-border cleanup campaign at the Beit Bridge Border Post on Friday.

The South African Deputy-Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, and the Minister of Environment and Conservation in Zimbabwe, Francis Nhema, led the cleaning up of the border post. Ten trees were also planted during the event. The cleaning campaign and tree planting started on the Zimbabwean side and later crossed over to the South African side.

This initiative is the first of its kind and will be implemented at other borders in due course. These include Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique borders. The theme of the event was: “Cleaning our borders for a healthy society and environment…”

Mabudafhasi said the initiative is targeted at border posts with influx of people coming into the country. “The initiative is not only limited to cleaning the borders, but we are also using the opportunity to highlight issues relating to climate change, air quality, pollution, the need for the continent and Southern Africa continents to forge strong links in matters pertaining to sustainable development and economic growth as well as xenophobia.”

Mabudafhasi said some of the goals for the cross-border clean-up campaign were to make communities aware of the constitutional imperatives regarding waste management, opportunities in waste management and the legislative framework regarding waste management. “People must see waste as an opportunity to make money. We need to encourage our people to start recycling projects to make their fortune out of waste.”

Nhema said his country will continue to forge relationships with South Africa to build one united nation. “Zimbabwe is very serious about environmental issues and that is why we are engaging our people in this event. It is important to keep our environment clean, not only the borders but the whole environment where we find ourselves every day of our lives.”