National Tito Mboweni slams ‘filthy, embarrassing’ Joburg CBD streets after Rwanda visit Finance minister has urged South Africans to keep their cities, towns and the countryside clean BL PREMIUM

Finance minister Tito Mboweni has bemoaned the state of downtown Johannesburg’s streets, describing them as filthy and embarrassing. In a tweet on Thursday, Mboweni compared the city’s roads to those in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, which he said are “clean and beautiful”. “What a contrast!” said Mboweni of the two cities.

In an updated tweet, Mboweni said all of us have a responsibility to keep our towns, cities and the countryside clean and habitable. “If we don’t throw dirt around and the municipalities collect rubbish regularly, we can achieve a lot,” he said. Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba has been at the forefront of attempts to keep the city clean since he was elected. His monthly, city-wide volunteer cleaning campaign, A Re Sebetseng, was launched in August 2017. It is based on Kigali’s successful monthly cleaning campaign, Umuganda. A Re Sebetseng means “let’s work” and calls on communities to take ownership of their communities by working towards a common goal: a clean...