Community wants park named after Bokgabo, forum leads fight to reclaim community
“We want to bring back the spirit of this township. Wattville was one of the cleanest townships in the country. We want to return it to what it was.”
Ward 30 councillor Kenny Ranyawa revealed to the Benoni City Times he requested the City of Ekurhuleni to have the Masoleng Park in Wattville named after the late Bokgabo Poo.
Ranyawa said this at the inaugural Wattville Men’s Forum community fun walk. The NGO held this to ‘bring back the spirit of the community’ at the park on March 21.
Bokgabo was abducted while playing with a friend at the park on October 4. A suspect is in custody in connection with the four-year-old’s murder.
“There was an outcry from the community insisting that they should name the park after little Bokgabo. I made a request to the council, and it is still undergoing the necessary processes,” said Ranyawa.
Ekurhuleni metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, however, said no decision has been reached to rename the park and that a moratorium was put in place in August that naming and renaming of facilities is halted until further notice.
According to the councillor, Bokgabo’s death put the community under a dark cloud.
He added they will use the Wattville Men’s Forum to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again and will help the community fight crime and substance abuse, which he said has escalated since he took over the ward in 2021.
“The elders of the community have established an important NGO to bring social cohesion and guide young boys to become responsible men. For me, it’s an initiative we need in the township to assist in uniting the community.
“We want to encourage the youth to focus their energy on positive initiatives that will benefit the community instead of deciding to be involved in wrongdoing,” Ranyawa said.
The forum’s chairperson, Sello Rabothata, said it was symbolic to host the event at Masoleng Park after the Bokgabo-incident.
“It’s one of our painful moments. Wattville was never in the news, so it’s painful that we will always be remembered because of this incident,” Rabothata said.
He added the presence of the youth at the event encouraged them, adding they want to teach them in their formative years, which will bear fruit later in their lives.
The chairperson explained after being granted their NPO certificate; the forum began its work immediately, starting with cleaning up the township, which he said was an eyesore due to rubbish everywhere.
“We want to bring back the spirit of this township. Wattville was one of the cleanest townships in the country. We want to return it to what it was.”
While cleanliness and legacy projects are high on the organisation’s agenda, their main objectives are to fight crime, gender-based violence (GBV) and substance abuse.
“Everybody knows how bad crime is in the community. We have a sub-committee dedicated to minimising crime in the area.
“GBV is a scourge in the country. If men don’t take a stand against it, the scourge will continue. Women and children die because of us. We have to discourage this,” reflected Rabothata.
The forum will also create a safe haven for unemployed men, whom Rabothata said are often mistreated at home because of their inability to provide for their families.
“We will raise funds for the forum to create employment for these men.
“The most painful thing for men is that when they are unemployed, they are mistreated at home, which is also another example of GBV. We want to change that mindset.”
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