By Nangamso Mabindla

Oxford Street in East London was brought to a standstill on Friday when the city celebrated the success of its two-week clean-up campaign with a parade through the CBD.

The annual city campaign, which started on September 8, was aimed at encouraging Buffalo City citizens to take responsibility for the cleanliness of their city.

Organiser MC Ngomba said the campaign was a huge success: "We are happy that our people appreciate the importance of keeping Buffalo City clean. This shows that with efforts like these we could live in cleaner cities."

The parade was the highlight of the entertainment in the city centre on Friday, with drum majorettes marching through the city.

The clean-up campaign included collecting litter from surrounding areas of Buffalo City, to cleaning up the city's beachfront and shopping malls. Children from local schools also participated in cleaning up the city.

Deputy Executive Mayor Des Halley also joined in the fun and encouraged people to keep their city clean. "It warms my heart to see our people working in unison. This shows that with efforts like these, the world will be a cleaner place for our children to grow up in."

Halley said: "Pollution lays a snare for our future generation so it in this light that I encourage us to ensure cleanliness in our city, because our children do not deserve to be raised in a world full of pollution."