Durban — Samkelo Nzama, from KwaMaphumulo, has embarked on a 16-day solo run to raise awareness of green ecology.
The run started on March 5 in Johannesburg and is expected to end on March 20 in KwaMaphumulo in KwaZulu-Natal. Nzama is hoping to keep to an average of 42km per day and a total of 672km.
Nzama is a third-year Bachelor of Arts student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is also the deputy chairperson of the university’s athletic club.
Nzama said the aim of the run is to raise funds to start a non-profit organisation to promote agriculture and keep his hometown KwaMaphumulo ecologically clean.
“Running is my life and I believe that by doing this run I can transform the lives of the community members. I am saddened that the waste in our communities kills our livestock and crops,” he said.
KwaMaphumulo, or Kranskop, is a rural area known for sugar cane harvesting and people there depend on agriculture for a living, said Nzama.
He said that people are unaware of how to manage waste ecologically and eventually it washes into rivers.
“Tin cans lying around often injure cattle and donkeys, and plastic and paper are eaten by livestock, causing sickness or death,” said Nzama.
Nzama is appealing to the public to donate to his worthy cause by contacting him via email at [email protected] or WhatsApp/Call: 060 955 1400.
Meanwhile, a UKZN graduate in a bid to address the challenge of satisfactory progress made by school children in the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK) area has embarked on a donation drive through his non-profit organisation.
Cebo Mzinyane, a Bsc Electronics Engineering graduate and the founder of NPO Monarkhia Academy said the spatial location of the focused areas proves that poverty is one key challenge that negates the progress of the children.
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