Call for all to help clean up Benoni Plaza

The Ekurhuleni metro has partnered with the 200% Foundation and various stakeholders to host the #CleanMyBenoni initiative which will take place on February 22 at the plaza.

The clean-up will take place from 9am to 1pm and is aimed at restoring the pride, integrity and dignity of Benoni.

All organisations, companies and youth groups are invited to be a part of this initiative.

The idea for the clean-up started after the 200% Foundation embarked on a project on December 4 to address the plight of the vagrants who have taken up residence in the Benoni Plaza, as well as issues of crime and poverty.

According to the CEO of the foundation, Manogari ‘Nogz’ Moonsammy, the unhygienic filth, squalor and dilapidation of the area are unsettling and hazardous to the environment, making the key focus of the #CleanMyBenoni initiative to:

• Empower, uplift and rehabilitate vagrants.

• Address poverty and famine.

• Provide health services.

• Create an awareness campaign on substance and drug abuse.

• Provide assistance and support for vagrants who will be displaced once the intended areas of the plaza are demolished.

• Provide meals and support groups (by Siyabonga Africa) once a week.

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A visit to the plaza

The City Times went to the Benoni Plaza on January 29 with Benoni SAPS spokesperson Capt Nomsa Sekele, Ward 73 councillor Sinethemba Matiwane, Benoni Plaza manager Elaine Erasmus and 200% Foundation members Rithesh Nundlal and Moonsammy.

The state of the plaza has deteriorated drastically from our last visit in January, last year, and the stench in the air makes it hard to breathe as the entire area is being used as a toilet.

We met Amanda (not her real name) at the vandalised building which was once Milky Lane, ready to smoke an unknown substance which she identified as a drug she bought at the plaza for R20.

Amanda is 29 years old and mother to a six-year-old child who she left in the care of her mother after Amanda ran away from home because she kept stealing from her family to fund her drug addiction.

She said she is not happy with her choices and surroundings and added that there are many just like her who call the plaza home.

The built-in benches and tables placed for families to once sit at and take in the scenery over lunch are now used by a group of men as a place to gather and inject themselves with drugs in broad daylight.

The discarding of the used needles is done recklessly as a few of them were found not too far from a pre-school right opposite the plaza.

While residents are all disturbed by the smell and sight of the plaza, a resident was horrified to hear that her six-year-old granddaughter has seen a vagrant urinate right in front of her while she waited for her school transport.

Incentives

The #CleanMyBenoni initiative also wants to put the vagrants who live there to task and incentivise them for cleaning up after themselves and by providing equipment to them which they will be held accountable for.

Once they prove they are responsible, they will be rewarded with a meal, hamper and clothing donations provided by religious organisations.

Light tasks, which entail sweeping and removing posters from walls, will be allocated to community members.

Join the cause

All residents willing to participate can bring love, respect, smiles, buckets, dustbin plastics and hand sanitiser.

Protective gear and cleaning agents will be supplied.

For enquiries contact Matiwane on 082 390 4839, Moonsammy on 074 687 8151 or the 200% Foundation on 074 099 0999.