Community Cleaners winning the war on waste

Northcliff, Berario, Valeriedene and Fairland are cleaner and neater thanks to community volunteers, Andre Swanepoel, Hugo Erasmus, Ryan Kloppers

July 31, 2022

Emilly Wellman Bain 1 minute read

The Community Cleaners in action every weekend, in and around Northcliff and Fairland. Photo: Supplied.

An energetic group of community volunteers called the Community Cleaners are determined to improve the quality of shared spaces such as parks and pavements.

Focusing on Northcliff, Berario, Valeriedene and Fairland for now, they hope to expand and grow.

A bakkie load of rubbish and invasive plant material removed from public parks in ongoing efforts by the Community Cleaners to improve public spaces. Photo: Supplied

Formed in October last year, the group has more than 20 regular helpers and are in the process of registering as a non-profit organisation to enable growth and provide accountability for donations received.

Andre Swanepoel, Hugo Erasmus and Ryan Kloppers are the driving forces of the initiative and have made an appeal for more support, both in terms of manpower and in supplies.

Community Cleaners volunteers remove rubble and rubbish from a deep crevice. Photo: Supplied.

Erasmus said, “We all want to have clean and safe areas for our children to enjoy and for us to want to live nearby. So, every weekend we are out and about attending to areas we have identified as needing a clean-up.”

Erasmus added in a positive development that, “City Parks, who support our efforts, have given us permission to remove buck weed and lantana, two invasive species of plants that are overtaking many areas. We can also remove dead trees, clear fallen trees, and dangerous hanging branches.”

Some of the volunteers of Community Cleaners who spent a morning collecting litter from Northcliff Hill. Photo: Supplied.

They have already removed over three tons of rubbish from the Fairland koppie alone, making a huge difference to the experience of people who use the space recreationally.

A look at the levels of litter found in public parks that the Community Cleaners tackle. Photo: Supplied.

However, they need proper equipment such as traffic cones, chainsaws, woodchippers and other items to enable them to work more effectively, and hope donors and more volunteers would join them.

Ryan Kloppers with volunteers at the start of a clean-up operation in Northcliff. Photo: Supplied

Kloppers said they also hoped to inspire and ‘encourage other communities to take responsibility for litter, remove their rubble properly and take pride in where they live’.

Ward 98 councillor Beverley Weweje said, “It’s a wonderful initiative where residents are tackling problem areas and they are doing exceptional work under difficult circumstances. It has helped build camaraderie and a sense of community for all those involved. It’s really inspiring to see the growth of the Community Cleaners and as a councillor, I am immensely grateful for their efforts.”