Dr Bheki Shongwe, the CEO of South Africa Day movement, the initiators of the We Love Alex Community Makeover Project, said they had plans not just to beautify the township but also to establish viable business opportunities for locals.
Speaking at an interim committee meeting of the makeover project, Shongwe said the Sandton-based non-profit organisation had plans to establish and set up a buyers and sellers flea market in Alexandra along the lines of Vilakazi Street in Soweto which had restaurants selling African cuisine, and other arts and crafts that appealed to tourists visiting the precinct.
ALSO READ: Alex makeover project calls for mass meeting
“We want to create not just job opportunities for the people of Alex in the makeover projects but also create real business opportunities for them to come together at a buyer’s and seller’s market where locals can [display] their wares for visiting tourists,” Shongwe added.
“Ours [SA Day] is more of facilitator to connect the people of Alexandra with potential funders and investors in the projects but the day-to-day running of the projects will remain squarely on the shoulders of the local people. All we can do will be to advise here and there where necessary.”
He welcomed the idea of calling a mass meeting of the people to endorse the Alex makeover project and also share their ideas of the type of projects they would like to see being undertaken.
ALSO READ:
“The widespread consultation process being proposed will be a very important starting point and will ensure that we get the buy-in of the people who will ultimately be responsible to nurture and care for the projects to ensure their sustainability into the future.”
Project patron Linda Twala, who is one of Alex’s outstanding philanthropists, said he could only see one threat to the project and that was greedy people who would be asking ‘what is in it for me?’.
“Those are the only people who pose a threat to the project but I am quite certain that there are more people that want to see the project succeed than the prophets of doom. We will not allow the prophets of doom to succeed,” Twala said.
Twala and his volunteers already have a ‘potholes brigade’ up and running, tackling the ever-growing menace and said any project was never smooth sailing. “There are times you will hit bumpy roads but belief in the cause will always see you through.”
