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03 July 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs
KovsiesCare - Clean Up Read More
Tsietsi Ngobese, through the Wesolve4x Cleaning My Planet Campaign, motivated citizens to collectively fill over 23 000 refuse bags to date.

The mission: To collectively fill 20 million refuse bags every Saturday with the help of 20 million people who are cleaning their own communities and our planet for an hour. The message: My planet, my responsibility.

The mission and message that the Wesolve4x Cleaning My Planet Campaign wants to convey, is based on a simple premise: Get community members to donate one hour of their time to cleaning duties every Saturday for the next 20 years until 2039. At the same time provide a continuous educational programme about waste management to the general public and to schools in order to empower them to take responsibility.

Address trash blindness


Tsietsi Ngobese, Chief Executive Officer of this initiative and BSc Actuarial Science graduate, says he understands the transformative power of education and the role it plays in transforming diverse communities. Through outreach programmes in our community and schools, we are slowly eliminating generational trash blindness. We also tackle some of the social determinants of health by encouraging healthy living conditions within our communities through good waste management and recycling. 

It is important for Tsietsi to add value to society. He believes that the Wesolve4x Generation will transform the world for the better through education and empowering all citizens.

The campaign – officially endorsed by Miss Earth South Africa, Catherine Constantinides – was launched on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus as well as the Abram Hlope Primary School in Katlehong on 4 May 2019.

“We want to promote the benefits of a clean and healthy environment for future generations,” said Tsietsi. 

Since their inception, the group has collectively filled over 23 000 refuse bags with the help of active citizens. 

Challenge accepted

When former lecturer, Jan Blomerus, once challenged his Actuarial students to protect the environment in order to decrease the mortality rate (from natural disasters because of the effect of climate change), Tsietsi accepted the challenge. “By inspiring excellence and transforming lives, the UFS plays an important role; I started to believe that I can address societal challenges in the communities I am an integral part of,” he said.

When Tsietsi saw trash piling up everywhere and children playing at illegal dumping sites, he became concerned about the health risk to society. He believes the dumping area is contaminating the air and water around the dumping site. 

“I had to be part of the solution to start cleaning up, and most importantly, educating myself and others to continuously take responsibility for our own waste and change our thinking about littering. This is a generational issue and needs a generational approach to unlearn all habits of littering,” Tsietsi pointed out. 

As part of his vision, Tsietsi plans to reduce the waste taken to landfill sites and to increase that which is taken directly from households to recycling plants. He also wants to encourage people to find creative ways of converting what has previously been wasted into something useful. “This action can encourage individuals to generate an income from waste,” he said.

Take action

Tsietsi invites all members of the Mangaung community to get involved in the project. This is your opportunity to make a difference on Mandela Day. You can;
provide sponsorship for educational content on effective waste management, economic opportunities, and health issues to the general public and to schools;
provide refuse bags, plastic gloves or hand-washing soap (used by community members in every clean-up session);
join in a collective effort to clean your community by meeting at designated schools or any designated community assembly point on a Saturday (contact 011 307 2005 or info@wesolve4x.com for more information).


News Archive

Nominations awaited for UFS Alumni awards
2006-10-12

Nominations are awaited for the University of the Free State’s (UFS) annual Kovsie alumni awards, namely the Kovsie Alumnus of the Year, the Cum-Laude Award and the Alumni Award for Exceptional Service to the UFS.

The Kovsie Alumnus of the Year Award honours the outstanding achievements of a Kovsie alumnus on national or international level.  Last year Mr Naka Drotské was appointed as Kovsie of the Year for the way in which he led the Cheetah Rugby Team.

The Cum Laude Award is occasionally bestowed on an alumnus for outstanding service or achievement on regional, national or international level in his/her field of work.  Mr Harold Verster (President of the Free State Rugby Union) received the Cum Laude Award last year.

The Alumni Award for Outstanding Service to the UFS is occasionally made to any person (not necessarily an alumnus) who delivered exceptional service to the university.  The award was made last year to Prof Johan Henning, Dean: Faculty of Law at the UFS.

 A written nomination for the awards can be submitted by any alumnus. The nomination must be seconded by at least five other alumni and be accompanied by a comprehensive motivation and a brief curriculum vitae of the candidate. The candidate’s complete address and telephone number must also be provided.

Nominations can be submitted by post to Ms Annanda Fick or Mr Lucas Radebe, Alumni Awards, PO Box 2319, Bloemfontein, 9300 or faxed to (051) 401 3758. The closing date for submission of nominations is 3 November 2006.  Enquiries can be directed to Ms Fick at (051) 401 3382 or Mr Radebe at (051) 401 3751.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za 
10 October 2006

 

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