City budgets extra R57 million to keep Cape Town clean this festive season

The City’s Urban Waste Management Directorate’s Cleansing teams are hard at work cleaning Cape Town’s popular visitor’ areas leading up to the first festive season since the Covid-19 National State of Disaster was lifted and will continue to do so this summer.

The City of Cape Town’s Festive Season Cleansing Programme is a high-season top-up cleansing service targeting all beaches, scenic routes and central business districts. A total budget of about R57,5 million has been assigned for the programme.

What to know about the programme:

  • It runs from November 2022 until April 2023.
  • It aims to deploy 2588 additional cleansing staff (2086 workers and 502 supervisors).
  • Targeted areas will benefit from three cleansing shifts per day, seven days per week. It will also assist in managing kelp and dead seals/sea life, and includes additional street washing in areas where homeless residents sleep and gather.
  • All scenic routes, highways and byways are also swept using mechanical sweepers, and all adjacent fences, pavements, verges, channels, and centre islands will be cleaned on a regular basis.

‘Thanks to every Capetonian who joined hands to make our #SpringCleanCT Campaign a success. We now have an important summer season ahead for our city, with many local visitors, and those from around the world. We are losing no time in launching our festive season clean-up phases with over 2500 additional staff to keep Cape Town clean. We call on every resident to encourage others to help pick up litter too. Let’s show what’s possible when we take pride in our city together,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

‘It is very common to hear visitors from the rest of South Africa talk about how they are impressed with Cape Town’s cleanliness, and this programme has played a major role in setting our city apart from the rest over the years. 

‘Tourism is an important economic sector for Cape Town and making the extra effort to ensure our visitors have a good experience in Cape Town will pay off in the long run.

‘This festive season top-up service is in addition to our ongoing cleansing services provided throughout the city to various areas. While these services are provided, we encourage the public, including locals and visitors, to help us keep Cape Town clean this summer wherever they work, live and play so we all can enjoy public spaces, such as our beaches which are really popular spots. If you can’t bin your waste immediately, bag it and keep it with you until you get to the nearest bin. We all have a role to play in keeping our city clean this summer,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.

Source: City Of Cape Town