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Author: Marlene Nqumse

01 September 2025 Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality Urging its Citizens to Join the Annual International Coastal Clean-up Celebrations during the Month of September 2025

Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality Urging its Citizens to Join the Annual International Coastal Clean-up Celebrations during the Month of September 2025

 1 September 2025

Annually, on the third Saturday of September, volunteers around the world take part in the world’s biggest coastal clean-up – the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC) day, which will be held on the 20th of September 2025. This event encourages volunteers to clean and record trash along coastlines and other water bodies throughout the month of September, with 2025 marking the 29th year of the country’s participation in this global effort. The ICC event is also used as the platform to address issues concerning coastal pollution, as well as to stimulate change in the behavioural patterns that negatively affect the marine environment.

The ICC event has been held internationally each year since 1986, and started when communities rallied together with the common goal of collecting and documenting the trash littering their coastline. Over the years, this movement has created a family that spans oceans and country borders.

This year’s coastal clean-up efforts align with the 2025 World Ocean Day theme, “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us,” which emphasises protecting the ocean to sustain life and build resilience against climate change. A major goal is to shift harmful behaviours that lead to pollution, and emphasising responsible waste disposal. Beach cleanups are important mitigation tools that helps to create an understanding of the global trash problem and encourage people to engage in solutions. Awareness is the first step to creating behaviour change!

The Garden Route District has 300 km of coastline and some of the most diverse marine environments of the world. The benefits derived from the oceans include climate regulation, waste absorption, sustenance (sea food), economic development (tourism, seafood distribution), transportation (shipping), medicine (biomedical products from marine plants and animals) and recreation (swimming, diving etc.). In addition to this, estuaries are sensitive environments, due to its ecological uniqueness, and are increasingly being regarded as important ecological infrastructure to protect and enhance given the ecological services that it provides. It is however typically in these sensitive systems where the problem of marine litter is seen to manifest itself so clearly and profoundly.

Due to human activities along estuaries and beaches (due to increasing population and urbanisation), marine litter creates one of the major threats to our beaches and marine life.  Every year thousands of tons of marine litter finds its way onto our coast, most of which ends up in our oceans with devastating effects to our sensitive marine ecosystem.

This year, the Garden Route district’s Municipalities and organisations will be embarking on various awareness campaigns, litter collection / clean-up activities on beaches, estuary and river clean-ups, educational talks and speeches. The Garden Route District Municipality would therefore like to encourage its citizens to get involved in the various activities within their areas. Citizens must unite – communities, volunteers, learners, and officials must come together to take action for the ocean.

Some important key dates to know are:

  • September 2025 – Clean-up & Recycle SA Month

  • 14–20 September 2025 – Clean-up & Recycle SA Week

  • 17 September 2025 – River Clean-up Day

  • 19 September 2025 – National Recycling Day

  • 20 September 2025 – International Coastal Cleanup (ICC)

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26 August 2025 Public Notice: ROLL-OVER ADJUSTMENTS BUDGET 2025/26

Public Notice: ROLL-OVER ADJUSTMENTS BUDGET 2025/26

Notice Number: 90/2025

Notice is hereby given that the Garden Route District Municipal Council’s Roll-Over Adjustments Budget for the period 2025/2026-
2027/2028, was compiled in accordance with the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act 2003 (Act 56 of 2003).

This document was approved by the Garden Route District Municipality at a District Council meeting held on Friday, 22 August 2025.
This document will be available for public inspection and comments on the GRDM municipal website www.gardenroute.gov.za from
25 August 2025.

Members of the public are invited to submit written comments or representations to the municipality in respect of this document.

All comments and inputs must be directed to “The Municipal Manager, Garden Route District Municipality, 54 York Street, George, 6530”.

Please contact the Budget Manager (Ms Louise Hoek) at 044 803 1300 with any enquiries.

M G Stratu
Municipal Manager
54 York Street
PO Box 12
GEORGE
6530

Tel: 044 803 1300

Click here to view/download the Official Notice

Click here to view/download the Documents

25 August 2025 Media Release: GRDM Environmental Health Practitioners Delivered a Fun Lesson with a Serious Message

Media Release: GRDM Environmental Health Practitioners Delivered a Fun Lesson with a Serious Message

25 August 2025

On Tuesday, 19 August 2025, the children of Klein Wonderwerkies Kleuterskool  in Oudtshoorn enjoyed an interactive and educational visit from the Garden Route District Municipality’s (GRDM) Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP).  During the visit, the EHPs facilitated a fun, hands-on training session about proper handwashing techniques. The initiative aimed to raise hygiene awareness and help prevent the spread of germs among young learners.

A Fun Lesson with a Serious Message

The training, led by the EHPs transformed a basic health lesson into an exciting learning experience. Through the use of colourful visuals, catchy songs, and interactive activities, the visitors captured the children’s attention while emphasising the importance of clean hands.  The little ones learned not only how to wash their hands properly, but also why it matters, especially before eating, after using the toilet, or coming in from outside.

“We know how important hand hygiene is, especially in early childhood development settings like Klein Wonderwerkies,” said EHP Anelisa Fuzani. “By making it fun and memorable, we are not only teaching them the correct way to wash their hands, but also helping them develop healthy habits that can last a lifetime.”

Children were shown the five key steps of effective handwashing:

  1. Wet your hands with clean water.
  2. Lather with soap, don’t forget between the fingers!
  3. Scrub for at least 20 seconds (they sang “wash your hands” song twice).
  4. Rinse well under running water.
  5. Dry hands using a clean towel.

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