Some 500 Mdantsane residents braved the pouring rain and came out to listen to President Cyril Ramaphosa launching the Good Green Deeds campaign at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Friday.
The president told the audience he was pulled up by his own children and taught not to litter by them.
Ramaphosa said the campaign, conceptualised by the late minister Edna Molewa, was one of the most important campaigns the government was embarking on.
He said the launch was honouring Molewa .
“Edna Molewa was our national champion for climate change. We honour her as we launch this campaign because today is about how we look after our country and our planet.”
He urged South Africans to preserve and protect the planet for future generations.
“As people of this country we seem to have been waging war against the planet.
“We seem to have been waging war against ourselves by not looking after our planet and our country, by littering our country, by illegal dumping and the pollution of our air, pollution of our streets, rivers and our oceans.”
Delivering his speech on a sodden field to people packed into two adjoining marquees, Ramaphosa introduced Daisy Ngedle, 8, as his special guest.
Ramaphosa had earlier on the day visited Daisy at her Clarendon Prep school following a letter she wrote to the president late last year.
Before going to the stadium Ramaphosa visited the AfriWaste Plastic Pelletisation plant in the Fort Jackson industrial area. He was accompanied by premier Phumulo Masualle, Cogta minister Zweli Mkhize, provincial Cogta MEC Fikile Xasa and finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane and other dignitaries.
In his speech Ramaphosa urged South Africans to use the campaign as a tool for teaching others to take care of the environment.
“There are many things that we can learn from each other; we can even learn from young children. I learned to stop littering from my own children.
“This morning I visited one of my new friends, a special friend who wrote a letter to me – Daisy,” he said to loud cheers.
Ramaphosa called Daisy to the podium to greet the crowd, who cheered her.
“This is Daisy, my friend. “We write letters to each other. They are transparent letters, you can see them.
“One of the things that Daisy and her friends say, is that they have committed themselves to really looking after our environment and to stop littering,” Ramaphosa said.