New community service collab brings hope
Parolees from the Department of Correctional Services helped to clean up Brakpan last week.
Last week, the Department of Correctional Services, in collaboration with the SAPS, the CPF, the Brakpan Radio Group, and members and councillors from the DA and Freedom Front Plus, made several people on parole available to clean Brakpan as part of their community service hours.
Under the supervision of the involved stakeholders, the parolees cleaned the two main streets of Brakpan – Voortrekker Road on Wednesday and Prince George Avenue on Thursday.
The community was asked to donate food so that the stakeholders could give the parolees breakfast and lunch. Angelo’s BuyRite donated cold drinks and water.
Johnny Smit from the Brakpan Radio Group transported the spades, brooms, rakes and other equipment gathered by the CPF for the parolees.
Together, they cleaned Voortrekker Road from the Sherwood Shopping Centre to the SUPERSPAR VC in Dalview and a stretch of Prince George Avenue.
They picked up rubbish, removed weeds, raked up the cut grass and weeds, and trimmed the bushes and trees to improve road safety and visibility.
Freedom Front Plus PR Clr Riaan van Zyl said, “They are people who want to be part of the community again. They are out on parole and have done their time. Now, they want to be respectable citizens who contribute to the community.”
Ward 97 Clr Brandon Pretorius was also involved in the project.
ALSO READ:WATCH: Ekurhuleni SOCA a waste of money – DA
“This is a pilot project, but we can use these people for good. We can paint Tweedy Park, for example. It can become a long-term thing. We just need to build that relationship,” he said.
Brakpan SAPS station commander Brigadier Fredl Jonck was close to the project.
“These people want to help, and they want to work. The town will recognise that. We can only thank them and Alice Dlamini from the Department of Correctional Services for bringing this initiative into existence,” he said.
This project is part of a larger initiative to improve the town’s image. The aim is for the various stakeholders and community members to get involved and pick up where service delivery failed.
Hoërskool Stoffberg recently ‘adopted’ Eden Circle in Dalview and has since periodically maintained and cleaned it.
The councillors will look into erecting a sign that acknowledges the school for its efforts at the circle and hope it will encourage other schools and businesses to adopt their own projects to help keep the town clean.
Jonck also hopes this initiative will inspire business owners in town to keep the areas around their stores clean, especially on the main roads.
The parks department provided a truck to remove the bags of refuse and the bushes the parolees raked up on both days. The Department of Correctional Services provided a bus to transport the parolees to and from the clean-up areas.
