‘Let’s fix this’ — Tbo Touch’s appeal to the City of Johannesburg

Radio personality and businessman Tbo Touch has added his voice to calls for the City of Johannesburg to address the scourge of pollution in the city.

The high levels of pollution in the city centre and areas surrounding it has been a major concern for residents, who often share pictures and videos online of waste filling the streets and pavements.

Touch shared a picture, supposedly of a Johannesburg street overrun with garbage bags and water, urging those in power to fix the mess.

“Please City of Johannesburg, let’s fix this,” he pleaded.

The South African Human Rights Commission recently announced an inquiry into the environmental pollution and raw sewage pouring into the Wemmer Pan lake just outside the city centre.

It follows complaints from local businesses and media reports about the lake being heavily polluted and covered by a shiny, oily layer.

Those who complained said there is also a stench of hydrogen-sulphide around the area, and the pollution has affected the local community, businesses and those who use the lake for recreation.

Touch's plea came weeks after former minister Tito Mboweni shared pictures of his “tour” of Hillbrow and central Johannesburg, complaining of the “filth” he saw.

“The business buzz is great. 51 Plein Street, the former ANC HQ, now a block of flats, is buzzing like New York City. But hey, the CBD and Hillbrow are stinking filthy. How can people live like this? Not in Kigali, Rwanda,” he wrote alongside pictures of trash-filled pavements.

He claimed the city was “spending too much energy on coalition politics and had created a breeding ground for deadly diseases”.

“Remove the rubbish for the sake of the health of the citizen. Clean the city. It’s filthy. The bubonic plaque might visit us.”