South Africa’s most populous and intimidating city has been named its most environmentally friendly
In news that might surprise some, South Africa’s densely populated financial capital, Johannesburg, has been declared the country’s most environmentally friendly metro area in an annual government-run competition.
The Greenest Municipality Competition, now in its sixth year (it was previously called the “Cleanest Town Competition”) was created by South Africa’s department of environmental affairs to encouragemunicipalities both small and large to actively work on sustainable solutions for their cities. Johannesburg was announced as the winner in the “metro” category on Aug. 29, while Polokwane, a city a little more than three hours north of Johannesburg, won in the “local” category.
As the winner of the competition, the Johannesburg metropolitan municipality will be given R3.5 million (about $270,000) to fund projects that help manage the city’s waste, build a greener economy, reduce the effects of climate change, and create job opportunities.
Paul Saad