Alex makeover project calls for mass meeting

The Alexandra chapter of the We Love Alex Community Makeover Project has proposed a meeting of the township folk to map the way forward for the beautification of the once vibrant but now dilapidated area.

This was the resolution taken at a meeting of the stakeholders of the project which is being spearheaded by the South Africa Day movement. The meeting was convened at the home of the project’s patron, Linda Twala on 1 February and was attended by South Africa Day CEO Dr Bheki Shongwe.

The proposal for the meeting of the township residents came from one of the interim committee members of the project, Muntu Mbanjwa who said it was critical that the organisation obtained a ‘mandate and buy-in’ of Alexandrians to avoid the pitfalls that befell many other projects before it.

Mbanjwa is the grandchild of the first person who settled in Alexandra when the then farm owner, Herbert Papenfuss decided to sell the land for the settlement of blacks. “There are many hyenas and anacondas waiting in the wings for a piece of the kill and ready to disrupt this noble cause and tear it down if they don’t benefit,” he warned.

“So many projects have been implemented before and failed, including the most famous one, the Alexandra Renewal Project. Once a project of this nature is tabled, the hyenas begin to ask ‘what is in it for me?’. They already want a slice of the budget to line their pockets.

“I propose that we hold a mass meeting of the community of Alexandra where the people on the ground take decisions and propose and bless the projects to be done so that you don’t get these hyenas coming up to disrupt and close down your project as they can’t use it for self-enrichment exercises.”

The other committee members agreed with Mbanjwa but no date has been set for his proposed meeting.

“We don’t want to be like the predecessor projects that imposed themselves on the people without consulting. One of the most pressing issues in Alex is unemployment which tends to lead to crime and drug abuse,” he added.

“I hear people saying houses are the most pressing issue in Alex, that’s not true. You can have the house but if you are unemployed and cannot put food on the table, you will end up hiring it out or even selling that house and return to a shack. First, we need people to earn an income who are able to sustain themselves before even talking about houses.”

He added that he would like to see the project creating jobs and hiring local people to earn an income to sustain their lives.
“We also want credible people on the committee. We don’t want those that are tainted and taking up positions.”