Dumped Johnnie Walker statue strides into Waterfall
Residents found the iconic statue during a clean-up.
WATERFALL residents doing a clean-up at the weekend stumbled upon more than just rubbish.
The residents were surprised when they discovered a Johnnie Walker Striding Man life-size statue dumped in a bush in Rock Road.
What started as a simple neighbourhood clean-up campaign ended as a mini statue unveiling ceremony.
ALSO READ: PHOTOS: Illegal dumping plagues New Germany
Waterfall resident, Gerard Rudolph said he noticed in September that the area of Sabie and Rock roads as well as Lone Creek was littered with rubbish.
On Wednesday, 14 October, Rudolph posted a message in the neighbourhood WhatsApp group and said, “You cannot walk more than two metres without seeing significant litter and straight up dumping.”
ALSO READ: Keep Hillcrest Beautiful Association recovers from lockdown dumping horror
Within days, the residents stepped into action and the move saw them amass 50 refuse bags filled with litter on Friday.
On Saturday about 10 residents gathered and worked their way along a few hundred metres along Rock Road and managed to gather three vehicle loads of garbage and litter.
“Over three wheelie bins of glass bottles were recycled from this short section of road. Among the dumping we discovered the golden man,” said Rudolph.
The residents did not waste any time adding some wit to their discovery.
As seen in the picture, the statue has been strategically placed on the side of the road with a hand written sign attached to it which reads “DRIVE CAREFULLY, Johnnie Walkers around”, which is a rather humorous way to remind drivers to be on the lookout for pedestrians.
While the statue is missing the right hand and is not in mint condition, the residents said they have not decided if the statue would be a permanent feature. Rudolph said the future of “the golden man” was still an ‘ongoing discussion’ adding that they are likely to look for environmentally friendly ways to recycle it.
The golden man currently poses a challenge as he is not recyclable, however, a solution will be found.
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