Buffalo City Metro residents are rolling up their sleeves to transform their neighbourhoods, taking on cleaning and maintenance work themselves in a grassroots effort to restore pride and order to the city.
Residents in several areas have organised themselves into work teams, employing the jobless and restoring pride to places they say the city has neglected.
In Quigney, the initiative has transformed the area and created jobs. Local businesses formed and funded cleaning and security teams after the residents decided to take matters into their own hands.
“BCM couldn’t cope because of the service delivery needs of the public being bigger than what the municipality could handle,” the Quigney Ratepayers’ Association’s Cedric Pringle said.
“We approached businesses to ask for funding. In the beginning, only about 20% helped us.
“They gave us funding that was used to create two teams, a cleaning team and a security team, which also guarded the businesses that funded the initiative.”
One of those businesses is Burmeisters. Its manager, Glenn Hawyes, said the efforts had made a visible difference.
“The investment we made in partnering with the initiative has paid off. The streets are now clean and the area is well maintained,” he said.
A cleaner employed through the initiative said he joined in 2020 after previously washing cars on the streets.
“As the festive season approaches, there is a lot more work. People drink and leave bottles and litter day and night. We are the ones cleaning it up,” he said.
The project has improved Quigney’s image and given some residents a source of income. More businesses have since joined and the model has spread to other suburbs.
In Beacon Bay, residents have also stepped up.
“Our neighbourhoods are overgrown with weeds and strewn with litter. We want to see things improve,” Beacon Bay Ratepayers’ Association representative Scott Roebert said.
“We report waste-littered areas to BCM, and they do respond, but they seem to only clean the pathways and not go off the beaten tracks where things look like refuse sites.
“There are many cleanup initiatives in Beacon Bay, like the Tidy Towns and Hillcrest Trails initiatives.”
With the festive season approaching, workers are gearing up to pick up empty beer bottles and party litter, on top of the usual daily litter.
Pringle said the streets in Quigney were already looking worse as year-end approached.
In Mdantsane’s Zone 7, resident Thabang Maseko has turned a dumping area opposite the Cricket Sports Ground into a small green corridor filled with flowers and plants.
“I want these people to stay away from criminal activities, like house-breaking,” he said, referring to the unemployed he recruits to help him.
“I love the environment and neatness. I took the initiative to clean and raise awareness among my neighbours.
“I saw kids who have potential, so I am nurturing them. I also help my neighbours by buying flowers for them to plant in their yards.”
Maseko has asked the municipality to install “no dumping” signs and provide children’s play equipment.
In Buffalo Flats, pensioner Herald Minnie turned his frustration with illegal dumping into action, clearing bushes and creating a small park outside his home.
“I started picking up plants people threw away around East London. I would also pick up stones to decorate with and make a stone garden,” Minnie said.
He spent R8,000 on equipment, cutting the overgrowth that once attracted snakes and in which rubbish was dumped.
The municipality later recognised his work by installing a sign marking his adoption of the site.
Minnie’s once bushy area is now landscaped with benches, stones and plants, and is no longer a dumping site.
Residents in Braelyn Park have faced similar frustrations.
Local residents’ association chair Deon Vengadajellum said they hired workers themselves to clear overgrown bushes.
“The uncut bushes lead to crime because criminals grab clothes from people’s lines and run into the bush.
“I am not sure what BCM does with their budget for the year for grass cutting and bush clearing, but we, as ratepayers, are extremely unhappy.”
In Gonubie, residents have also taken matters into their own hands.
Gonubie Ratepayers’ Association chair Henri Smit said BCM’s maintenance schedule was too infrequent.
“We have to make our neighbourhood appealing because we want to increase the property values of our houses.
“We can’t keep up with some of the work and we need more assistance from BCM,” he said.
Smit said he and his wife now cut grass on verges and public areas and maintained public gardens in the neighbourhood.
He accused the municipality of favouring areas that supported the ruling party.
“I wish the municipality would be apolitical and work for all residents of the metro,” he said.
BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile defended the municipality’s record.
“Buffalo City Metro continues to provide core environmental management services such as grass cutting, bush clearing, litter collection and overall area maintenance across all regions of the metro on a daily basis,” he said.
“Our teams are actively deployed and working to ensure that public spaces remain clean, safe and well-maintained.
“We also commend and encourage residents who take the initiative in maintaining cleanliness within their communities.
“The municipality views community participation as a valuable complement to our ongoing efforts, reflecting a shared commitment to a cleaner and healthier environment.”
He said BCM had introduced regular Friday Clean-Up campaigns, led by mayor Princess Faku which involved municipal workers and community members cleaning areas across the metro as part of its Service Delivery Fridays initiative and focused on improving public spaces through activities such as clearing illegal dumps, cutting grass and removing litter.
Daily Dispatch
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