Mbabane: Three lucky winners won themselves E500 each through the ‘Phatsa Sakho Nawe’ campaign, an initiative by Eswatini Environmental Authority (EEA) which is supported by the United Nations Development Programe (UNDP).
The prize presentation took place on Wednesday morning at the Hilton Garden hotel.
Winners were selected through a social media campaign that had been ongoing. In the competition, customers were expected to shop using reusable shopping bags, take pictures of themselves with their shopping bags in front of shops and post the pictures on Facebook with the hash-tag #PhatsaSakhoNawetake.
The winners were Ayanda Ndzimandze, Mncedisi Masuku and Nkosinathi Siggie Mkhonto. Each of the winners won themselves E500 shopping vouchers from participating retail shops. The participating retail shops include Spar, Shoprite Checkers, Boxer Stores, and Ok Foods.
Handing over the vouchers was the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism John Hlophe who was representing the Minister of Tourism, Moses Vilakati.
Hlophe thanked the participating shops for embracing the campaign towards the reduction of single-use plastic, a campaign that is good for the environment.
Hlophe encouraged emaSwati to participate in the ongoing Phatsa Sakho Nawe competition particularly because it was one of the ways of encouraging and promoting responsible consumption, and the reduction of single-use plastic.
Speaking on behalf of the winners, Mncedisi Masuku thanked the Eswatini Environmental Authority for such an initiative and promised that as winners they will be ambassadors and champions for the Phatsa Sakho Nawe campaign. He said they will continue to advocate for the discouragement of single-use plastics to protect the environment.
The Phatsa Sakho Nawe is a campaign supported by the United Nations development programe (UNDP) that was launched on 25 November 2020 and is aimed at a plastic bag-free Eswatini an advocacy initiative to reduce single-use plastic bags in Eswatini.
The campaign is directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 12, 13, 14, and 15, the campaign is a response to the waste challenge posed by single-use plastic bags in the environment. Phatsa Sakho Nawe ”means “bring your own bag”. Research shows that Eswatini, utilizes approximately 1 790 000 free single-use plastic bags per month, through 3 of the largest retail franchises in the country. The campaign is therefore aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags that end up on our roads and landfills.
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