Young Philippi boys earn pocket money from fixing potholes, cleaning up streets

A group of young boys from Philippi in Cape Town got together during the national lockdown and took it upon themselves to clean up the roads in their community – at the same time earning pocket money from generous drivers passing by.

When they aren’t at school or playing soccer, the young boys still clear rubbish off the road and fill potholes with sand and rubble.

They share a spade and use other pieces of debris to shovel the sand.

“We fill the potholes on the road using sand and our aim is to fill most of the potholes,” Junior Mjiwu, 13, said.

One boy chimed in saying they wanted to fill the potholes because the road is in such a bad state.

“We see it’s dilapidated when we walk along the road, having to steer clear of puddled water,” he said.

Mjiwu said they enjoy working together but mostly they like earning money in return for their work.

“We use the money to spoil ourselves, buy goods such as bread and cooldrink, and whatever else goes to our parents at home,” he told News24.

Onele Nontsele, 11, said he didn’t like seeing taxis’ tyres going bust because of the potholes.

“We don’t want the taxis to get stuck,” he said.

A large pile of rubbish that was illegally dumped has collected on the side of the road around the public toilets and the boys are requesting that someone with a truck help them remove it.

“We want a recycling truck to help us collect some of the rubbish and dispose of it… the drain recently burst and the stench is quite foul,” Nontsele said.

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