Ekurhuleni business leaders team up to clean and bring about change in the community

Five East Rand business leaders have vowed to make a difference in Ekurhuleni and want to inspire other companies to saddle up and clean up their neighbourhoods, too.

The executives contacted Boksburg entrepreneur Luke Botha, after reading in The Citizen about his mission to clean up, pave, mow sidewalks, erect new street signs and install speed humps.

Botha did this in a one square kilometre radius from his industrial park. He also removed an illegal dump in the area and replaced it with a soccer pitch for the local community.

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Local councillor Simon Lapping stepped in to shape a loose public-private partnership with business to take back the streets.

“After years of municipal coffer raids, there is just no money available to create the change that cities desperately need, said Lapping.

“From something as simple as replacing a street light globe, through to buying enough tar to kick-start filling potholes – it’s a mammoth task to compensate for more than two decades of neglect.”

Botha shared his vision with chocolatier Kees Beyers, developer George Palmer and business owners Walter Eberling and James Sheppard. Lapping was joined by Ekurhuleni MMC for waste management and environment Andre du Plessis.

“While it requires some cash outlay to make the improvements and maintain it, the benefits are not only to the community but commercially too, for a business,” said Botha.

“Creating an attractive environment changes the psychology of a neighbourhood, of employees and of customers.” Lapping said other companies, including Fuchs, Babcock and Procter & Gamble, have already acted and cleaned their immediate surroundings.

“This was viral and we intend to invite these companies, who did it off their own bat already, to join us in drawing a line in the sand and restoring Ekurhuleni to what an aerotropolis should look like.”

At a meeting last week, the business collective decided to spend a month recruiting more companies and regroup before the end of June to create an action plan, together with council, and surge ahead, quickly.

“We cannot expect a new regime in the municipality to go it alone when resources are at a premium due to years of poor man agement,” said Botha.

“As a team, we can make a difference. We can provide raw materials and council can deploy its vast labour resources, for example. In other instances, we all roll up our sleeves.”

The supply of tar, particularly to fill potholes, assistance with replacing streetlights, maintenance of pavements and other solutions were discussed.

Lapping said public-private partnerships at this level will mean a lot for local communities.

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Together, he and Botha will also be engaging with other ward councillors in the city to replicate the initiative.

“The plan is to export this idea to other cities, too,” Lapping said.

“Johannesburg faces similar issues to Ekurhuleni and we will be glad to share and assist where necessary to get things moving in the right direction, for the benefit of everyone.”

Botha emphasised former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani’s broken window strategy that turned New York around.

“We can do this, together. It’s an investment into the present and the future.

“With a bit of cash and sweat, we can make our communities, our cities and our country better and start fulfilling someone else’s promise, a ‘better life for all’.”