Verwoerdpark residents take matters into their own hands

A group of residents living in Ward 37 on Mutual Street and near the park on Mutual Street in Verwoerdpark took responsibility for maintaining the park and now clean it once a month.

Originally something small, the maintenance has now become a monthly event for the residents, and slowly but surely, they are taking back their town.

The Alberton Record visited Gabby Garbers at the park to discuss the group and its future.

No service from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM)

“When the park was upgraded in 2019, it was never maintained. The grass was as high as the tables, and homeless people slept or camped in the park. The dustbins were never cleaned out, and people came to the park to do drugs and would leave their empty medicine bottles and dagga bags behind. The garden and trees were in a terrible state, and it was just a place that attracted criminals.”

The residents struggled to get the municipality to come out and maintain the park they all live close to.

“Many reference numbers, many calls to the ward councillor at the time, and to the EMM, were made to get some assistance with maintaining the park.”

Then crime in the area increased, and residents noticed that the long grass in the park was an easy hide-out for criminals. One day a criminal who tried to get into her yard triggered her security beams and another resident had goods stolen from her yard.

Garbers has lived across from the park for more than 40 years and tried her best to pick up trash whenever she could.

According to her, the municipality sent a team once or twice to the park, but without gardening tools or one lawnmower between six workers.

“The workers would just sit there while one of them kept himself busy with a small lawnmower. “The state of the park was such a disgrace, and it would have definitely impacted the value of our properties.”

Garbers started small by picking up the trash in the park and cleaning out the dustbins.

She would put the trash bags into the dustbins and put these out on dustbin day.

“We were not getting any help and something had to be done.”

She then contacted Jacqui Gouws from the DA to ask for assistance.

“Jackie referred me to Jolen Smit, an office manager at Environmental Legal Services and I told her about our situation.”

The answer from the ward councillor then and the current ward councillor, Ivan Naidoo, was that there was no budget available for the park, and that was when residents took matters into their own hands.

A small initiative

Garbers started a WhatsApp group to ask those around her to help maintain the park because the municipality had failed to.

The first clean-up was last December. Residents and members from the About and P.I.C.K.U.P groups united to clean the park.

It took 20 members about eight hours to clean the park and about six trips to the Kibler Park dumping site.

“The dumping site in Heidelberg was closed at that time. It was a successful clean-up, and the park looked beautiful again. We then decided to do this once a month,” said Garbers.

More and more residents got involved, even those who did not live close to the park but visited it regularly.
Everyone helped in their own way by cleaning up, donating food and drinks on the day or spreading the word about the clean-ups.

Garbers walks daily through the park to pick up any trash.

“This is not my project, it is the project of those living on Mutual Street and the surrounding streets. It is a community project for the community by the community,” she said.

A park for everyone to enjoy

“My children grew up here and they used to play in this park. So this is something close to my heart.”

Since the clean-ups, you now see more families visit the park, and while sitting in your house, you can hear the laughter and joy of little children playing in the park.

The once-abandoned park is now alive and beautiful again.

“You do not feel ashamed to live opposite the park or invite guests over to your house because the park is now looked after and clean.”

She said many have asked why she does this?

“We all pay our rates and taxes I know, but it was all about safety and taking matters into our own hands,” said Garber

“Taking pride in where we live is a rewarding feeling.”

Neighbours became friends and a unit overall.

Goals and wish list

“It is our goal to maintain the park every month. If we continue this, we will never need to ask the municipality for anything again. Our efforts are paying off, and we are reaping what we sowed,” she said.

Among the things the group would like to have is more gardening equipment.

“Because we do not have enough petrol lawnmowers and weedeaters, we would appreciate one. We would work much faster and more efficiently,” said Gabby.

“As long as the park is safe for everyone who visits, we will keep on doing our best to ensure it remains that way. I believe this is a public space that should be safe for everyone to use.”