New initiative encourages Joburg residents to ‘restore city to former glory’

A newly launched initiative enables volunteers to earn money for keeping the streets of Hillbrow clean.

On Saturday, Clean City South Africa introduced the Adopt a Street Volunteers Network programme to residents of the Johannesburg inner city.

“The Adopt a Street Volunteers Network is a community-based initiative that unites the residents of Johannesburg in working towards a common goal of restoring the inner city to its former glory,” said Dalu Cele, CEO of Clean City South Africa.

The 21 volunteers have adopted 400m of Hadfield Road, 300m of Catherine Avenue and the lower part of Pullinger Kop Park, from which they will remove litter on a weekly basis.

“A network of volunteers conducts weekly cleaning-up events of the streets and open spaces where they live, every Saturday morning from 9:00 to 11:00,” explained Cele.

One of the volunteers, Zakhele Maseko, 36, has been living in the area for four years.

He said the streets are often covered in litter and other grime, and it motivated him to join the programme to improve conditions around his home.

“The streets are very dirty. If you’re staying there, you must respect the place. Today our street is very clean – I wish others could see it, because then they would want to clean their own streets,” he said.However, the project not only encourages residents to take ownership of the conditions of their streets, it also offers some financial relief to cash-strapped locals.

“Others now want to get involved to have clean streets – but this programme can also help them with food and airtime,” said Maseko.

Each completed shift will count toward a grocery or airtime voucher.

“Each volunteer earns 10 points after participating at each Saturday cleaning-up event. After every 120 points earned by a volunteer, following their participation in 12 events, they can redeem their points for either a R300 Shoprite Checkers food voucher, R300 data voucher or R300 airtime voucher from a service provider of their choice.”

The vouchers are funded through donations received by Clean City South Africa.

Each clean-up event is carried out with strict Covid-19 hygiene protocols and safety standards, said Cele.

No volunteer is allowed to participate without a mask, gloves and a Covid-19 screening, he added.

“The volunteer network launch paves the way for other streets and open spaces of the inner city of Johannesburg to be adopted by residents, with a goal to make the inner city a clean and healthy place to dwell in,” said Cele.

“It is encouraging to witness the residents of the inner city of Johannesburg participating and owning this initiative of taking back the streets and open spaces of the inner city, to free it from litter that is damaging the environment and the economy of the city.”

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