IN PICS: Community comes together to clean Alex

The community has come together to help clean up the streets of Alex after looting, starting on July 11, had engulfed the area.

A number of people have volunteered to clean every corner in Alex, including the Pan African Mall that was left with nothing by looters in the area.

Community members have said that they are cleaning their mall because they love and grew up in Alex.

ALSO READ: Clicks closes 130 stores in Gauteng due to vandalism and looting

The Alex News intern-journalist, Comfort Makhanya is on the scene today, July 15, and reported that one of the cleaning companies said it will take close to four months to complete the clean-up.

Waste collecting company Pikitup has supplied volunteers with plastic bags while the Johannesburg Metro Police Department is present and ensuring that taxis are fully operational all around Alex.

Jan Mokoena of Boitumelong ECD, an early childhood development centre, said the community was too quick to react to the situation, with regards to looting the area, and that they made the wrong decision in vandalising the mall.

The names of those who joined the clean-up were documented to keep a record of those who think positive for Alex. The soldiers that were deployed are still present to manage the situation.

One of the volunteers, Lesego Madiakgotla, said there are still a few things left inside the shops, especially the banks, adding that and soldiers are in the area to ensure ‘no mischief is going on’. He also said that cleaning up Pan Africa Mall will take three days.

Take a look at some more scenes from the clean-up in Alex:

Caregiver at Sithandiwe Disabled Care Centre in Lombardy East Nomvula Mathole said a clean-up is what the community can offer at the moment. She claimed that most of the looters are assisting with the clean-up, “Some of the looters are here to help thinking we did not recognise them.”

During the clean-up, JMPD, soldiers and volunteers apprehended suspects who were looting, however, the community decided to pardon them.

The mall is yet to be cleaned inside as the clean-up is still ongoing.

An owner of one of the shops in Pan Africa Mall, Anamu Egove, said he now has to start from scratch to rebuild his business. Egove said, “I am back to my starting point as I have to start first by fixing the shop. How will I fix the shop without money because all my stock is gone and the shop was my source of income?”

ALSO READ: IN PICS: Streets around Pan Africa Mall show devastation after looting spree