Ukusa Kwami clean-up campaign leaves Kya Sand spotless
Various stakeholders participated in cleaning the area.
Fourways non-profit organisation Ukusa Kwami and various stakeholders rolled up their sleeves for a campaign to clean up Kya Sand on Friday, June 23.
According to the founder of the organisation, Nonto Sibisi, the idea of cleaning the informal settlements comes from the need to continue to instil the spirit of uBuntu in society.
“We are here to touch the lives of the people of Kya Sand through the clean-up peace campaign. We are saying peace specifically because we desire to help them walk a journey of living a peaceful life – internally and externally.”
She said as a trained mediation and peacekeeping alumni from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), she wanted to put her words into action when she started the campaign.
“When the looting occurred in our country because I live around Fourways, I felt that how will we access the informal settlements in future because, at the time, those people did not have access to basic resources, and I was very concerned. With the help of my church, the Christian Revival Church, I was involved in soup drives since 2021 to be there for them.”
She added, “I realised that perhaps we can do more because I also run a business in training. So, I felt we could give more, and that is why I thought, ‘let’s train the people inside and then let’s go and clean their environment’ because the more we encourage peace and a clean environment, I believe that ‘small space, high impact’ if we touch 10 people, then another 10n can touch more.”
Nonto brought various stakeholders on board for her initiative, including the South African Police Service from Douglasdale Police Station, Phronesis, and Leroy Merlin, among others. She said that she was pleased by their presence and participation.
“It felt like a ‘we did it’ moment. It is so humbling, I never imagined that a small concept of passion and love could yield so many fruits, but I know that in Jesus Christ like the Bible said, ‘faith is small as a mustard seed; can grow to be a big tree’ and look at us today – we brought people like Fourways Review, cooperates like Leroy Merlin to come on board and a few others in the surrounding areas. They donated and sponsored us.”
One of the participants of the initiative, Phindile Gwedle, who is also a social worker by profession, said that he became part of the campaign because it is for a good cause. He told Fourways Review that other communities should follow suit to maintain a clean environment to avoid sicknesses caused by pollution.
“I am so grateful that the CRC is running such an initiative because it is one of the pillars of society and has the responsibility to become the voice of the society. So, through these kinds of campaigns, then the church can raise and achieve those voices concerning the community.”
Phindile expressed his excitement to start cleaning up, and no dirt was off-limits, according to him, “We will be picking up papers, plastics, bottles, and also cleaning up dumping sides. This movement makes me feel great because living in a clean environment encourages a healthy lifestyle and the need to recycle.”
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