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Isn’t it time for something to work? Don’t we need more than tinsel and the jingle of tills?
We need a good story, and Satish Nair and his committee feel they have one for us.
They looked down from their properties in Quigney at a difficult scene: a dozen young men wreaking havoc on the beachfront, disrupting the public, damaging the tar on the most sacred cultural drive in East London, the Esplanade, with its sweeping views of the bay, the Nahoon Point, the great Western Wall.
The car washers were as wild as the ocean they barely took any notice of.
There was noise, shouting and whistling and hustling and hassling in front of two retirement homes and restaurants and city attractions.
These were unruly, bumptious car washers, men aged 20 to 40, somehow attracting a bad scene where once people came and sat in their cars quietly enjoying the ocean and a Friesland milkshake.
Car washers were viewed with suspicion as stories circulated about some being caught up in car break-ins at night and it was well known that to get water to wash the cars, the washers would break water pipes, often at the meter and these would gush perpetually.
Ordinary people just did not want to go near this scene, to walk or jog or push a pram past it.
There was no peace, just a bad vibe and, together with boozing, it was all illegal.
But what to do? Nair, a former engineer turned property investor who owns flats above the Kennaway Hotel, and other business people on the beachfront needed to do something.
So they started meeting, every Thursday at Weavers retirement centre where there was no coffee, just talk about what to do.
They invited their councillors, law enforcement, any local authority involved and he says they got a lot of promises but no consistent action.
The residents were merely concerned citizens. They had no standing, no credibility. There was a feeling of an official vacuum.
The Quigney ratepayers organisation was inactive, so they decided to bring it back to life.
In early 2023, they called a public meeting and formed the Quigney Ratepayers and Residents Association (QRPRA) with a six-member committee with Nair as the chair.
They created three odd-sounding but utterly appropriate portfolios: service delivery, safety and security, and treasury.
And they created the WhatsApp group “Quigney Upfliftment”.
They drew up a plan but now what? Normal municipal processes were not working.
The Esplanade was messy, car washers would be stopped for a moment and would start up again.
Their epiphany came six months ago at Kofini & Co coffee shop opposite the car washers when a shop owner said why not turn the car washers into useful workers.
Create positive activities, pay a stipend and more.
“Let’s do it!” said one of the committee members and they all agreed.
A committee member got up, walked across the road and started pitching the idea to the car washers.
There was instant take up and on June 15 the committee went at it with their plan: volunteer street cleaners and community beautifiers, and marshalls who would politely inform members of the public when they were breaking the bylaws, such as car washers and boozers.
Uniforms and gloves, and regular income, not much at R150 a day but more stable, regular income — and often more than the car washers were making.
A system was put in place. Street cleaning shifts made sure that weekends were prioritised to clear the mess, clear litter from pavements and gutters, and there was gardening, weeding, painting and repairing of bins, broken stuff was picked up and put back together again.
Security went through the night and day in multiple shifts.
There was care, there was a palpable change.
The 12 volunteers seemed to relish the opportunity to come in from the cold and be part of constructive, meaningful society. They were getting great public affirmation.
The committee began to understand who the car washers were, how many were trying to earn an income for children and partners in the shacklands of Buffalo City, and how tough it was to sleep under the Aquarium deck, in the shelter of the tall walls of Wimpy, in the corner of Heroes Park, or at the outside corner of Ligththouse Spar.
You’d think the committee thought they were bringing change to the wretched lives of the street people, but it turned out they too were being changed.
Nair said the attitude among the association’s members went from sour and bitter to more positive and light. Something was happening.
There was, for the first time in a decade, a real change.
“We used to have people who would vent without thinking about a solution, especially on our WhatsApp group but the committee was determined to think about solutions which would take us forward.”
As the car washing melee vanished and was replaced by meaningful activities, the mood began to change in the association and in its growing public support.
The committee itself started feeling more positive after the clean ups brought great feedback from residents.
Even BCM law enforcement seemed to enjoy the role of the volunteers as the eyes and ears of the Esplanade.
No longer was it eyes and ears with criminal intent, now the intent was to thwart criminality and enforce bylaws.
Nair says: “We believe that by working together we can bring back the beauty of Quigney and our beautiful beachfront mile.”
How much does it cost? A little more than R30,000 a month and all of it funded by beachfront and other businesses and residents.
That’s a good deal, but Nair knows that R500,000 every month would see the entire Quigney being cleaned up.
And in case people think the committee is just “one race”, Nair says it is a very mixed committee with black , Indian, coloured, and whites members.
“We are one collective.”
It’s tiring. Sometimes he goes to bed wishing it would all go away. Then he wakes in the morning ready to go for it again.
Some surprising discoveries; boozers do not lose their temper and fight when told public drinking at the beachfront is illegal. He says most of them know it and just stop.
The same goes for carwashers who sneak in — the washers and the car owners know they are breaking the law and move away.
Yes, it is true, there are still illegal car washers but he says they have moved away from the beachfront and operate further up the hill, but that too will be broached in future.
Another interesting system was to give street dwellers a ticket for a night in a shelter in return for some cleaning or odd jobs.
He says the volunteers all have bank accounts now, and feel more socially included. Conversations are more friendly and purposeful and satisfying for all.
“We started to understand them. We heard their stories, what it was like to sleep in the bush, how little they earned, sometimes R70 a day, sometimes if it rained, nothing.
“They were getting mugged by street thugs.
“They are trying to feed families. One person is trying to earn enough money to buy materials to build a shack.
“We learnt about their needs, their aspirations.
“They were so happy to be given new overalls. When they were given a new pair of safety boots, there was disbelief.
“We are seeing respect for the work they do. The teams arrive on time, they are smart and their clothes clean, they look after the tools, the spades, rakes, and wheelbarrows.
“And suddenly they seemed to really see the environment, the wonder of the ocean, the waves, the rocks, the gardens.
“It was as if the beachfront was being reimagined.
“It was being seen differently, no longer a harsh place of survival but a place of happiness and beauty and a sense of importance of the work they were doing which was conferred by a grateful public.
“There is pride now and a sense of social commitment.”
Now the association’s tail is up!
Nair says: “We are confident we can change Quigney to become the best suburb in Buffalo City.”
And who would want to talk that down? Only the depressing Scrooges.
Christmas is around the corner.
So can we, who try to be part of the good public, give these people of Quigney our best wishes for they will be working in the shadows of those very expensive flashing snowmen and reindeers clearing up the junk tossed down by the bad public.
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