A Moment with Councillor Gideon Mangena

‘When the litter talk gets tough, the smart movement gets going.’ This is what community leader, Gideon Mangena (GM) said in commenting on his anti dumping (of litter) campaign in his ward.

The Councillor made these remarks when he invited ZDDT News Correspondent, Chrispen Tabvura (CT), for his introduction of what the councillor named ‘getting the ball rolling on declaring war against dumping of litter.’

When asked about his declaration of war, the community leader was loud and clear during the interview.

CT: Councillor Mangena, what do you mean by getting tough and smart movements gets going?

GM: I mean real war on people who dump their litter at illegal places in the ward. I have set up a committee which is patrolling the ward, in search of careless people, who dump litter willy-nilly, and we just forward their names to EMA for a verdict.

CT: Waal, are you telling me that this is happening as we are talking?

GM: Yes Chris. As we are talking, we have a committee that is now policing the ward on dumping litter. We have resolved to keep our ward clean, and that is why we requested ZDDT to help us in our campaign to curb litter and they responded by giving us the drama. That says it all.

CT: This is good. How do you find the perpetrator if dumping is done at night?

GM: Our policing committee is working around the clock, and we have given ourselves shifts, and this is working well. We are now a litter free ward, and we credit this to ZDDT’s anti-litter dramas which also performed in our ward recently.

CT: Is the Council aware of this good plan?

GM: This is part of my service delivery to the community who voted me in this ward, so I mention this in the council chambers as an alternative community contribution.

CT: What do you say about servant leadership as a Councillor?

GM: I am a servant of my ward, not a special person or a VIP. I am always consulting my community for ideas and they contribute to the development of our ward. I have always been a servant and this was our first orientation from ZDDT, soon after winning elections.

CT: How is your relationship with a previous Councillor and his team?

GM: I am in good books with him, and I actually asked him on how he was working and he updated me. It was a happy handover -takeover scenario, and the community is intact after that. I am working with some of the previous CAT.

CT: Thank you Councillor and I wish you well in the ward.

GM: Thank you Chrispen. Please come again and attend our clean up exercises.