The responsibility of maintaining clean and safe environments is a collective obligation that must be undertaken by all, especially at community level, says Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

"If we all love our streets, our streets and communities [will] be clean," Ntshavheni said.

She was speaking during the Love Your Street campaign in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, on Tuesday, where she expressed encouragement at the commitment shown by local residents who volunteered to look after the trees planted by the Minister and her team.

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Ntshavheni, together with government officials, civil society organisations and community members, once again rolled up their sleeves in Tembisa as part of efforts to improve neighbourhood cleanliness and promote community safety.

Last week, the Minister urged the municipality to ensure that streets are adequately lit to enable communities to move around freely and safely.

READ | Brooms, bags and a battle for clean, safe spaces in communities

She also called on residents to refrain from illegal dumping, advising them to wait for the municipality's weekly refuse collection service when their refuse bags are full.

"Because of the partnership with the community, we are confident that we are going to win the fight of keeping Ekurhuleni and our cities and towns clean, in line with the 'Clean Cities and Towns' campaign launched by Deputy President Paul Mashatile," Ntshavheni said.

The Minister said she was looking forward to seeing Ekurhuleni participate in the Cleanest Municipality competition, which seeks to encourage municipalities and communities to maintain clean and healthy environments.

"We are also looking forward to schools that will be participating in the Food Garden competition. We already have three schools that will be participating in this, and we are looking forward to more schools participating in the competition," Ntshavheni said.

She said government will mobilise businesses to contribute seeds to support community food gardens and broader environmental cleanliness initiatives.

Ntshavheni said maintaining a clean environment requires a collective effort from communities, government and the private sector.

Last week, Ntshavheni and her team visited Tembisa South to address the problem of illegal dumping as part of ongoing interventions to improve the local environment. Ekurhuleni Municipality was the site of the recent discovery of the bodies of several women. The shadow of that violence gives added impetus to the campaign's message of safe, well-lit and clean public spaces.

The Love Your Street campaign was launched by The Presidency and the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) in the Western Cape earlier this year.

"The Love Your Street campaign forms part of government's ongoing efforts to promote community pride, active citizenry, and clean and safe neighbourhoods," the GCIS said in a statement.

The campaign promotes partnerships between communities and municipalities to help keep cities and townships clean, including addressing illegal dumping and the problem of overgrown greenery.

"The Love Your Street campaign accelerates and strengthens effective, integrated service delivery interventions, including gender-based violence and femicide [GBVF] awareness by transforming neglected, poorly lit, overgrown parks and open spaces, identified as GBVF hotspots, into safe, clean community spaces, while educating community members about GBVF reporting mechanisms and available services," the GCIS explained.