Ferndale Spruit cleanup yields over 100 bags of litter

Community members and the Ferndale Residents Association had fun cleaning up the Ferndale Spruit on Spruit Day on 15 September.

Twenty-four people joined the community group during the clean-up, enduring the first heatwave of the season.

Erica de Jager of the association said, “Spruit Day is a venture between Joburg City Parks and Zoo.

Last year we managed to remove displaced people who would cause a constant mess in the spruit area, and Spruit Day is an initiative to keep the area clean.”

The association’s Johan Vermeulen said, “Ever since the community has taken an interest in reclaiming the area back for the community, we have seen more and more support in clean-ups such as this.

Seventy-five per cent of the people who joined us today did not belong to the residents association, they are from the surrounding neighbourhood and are concerned about their local environment.”

At the end of the day, the group gathered about 150 bags filled with litter collected along the spruit.

“A wide variety of objects were recovered during this clean-up, including a burnt copper cable,” De Jager added.

Last year’s initiative saw more than 70 people joining the residents’ association for the day, but the group is optimistic that more residents will join in similar campaigns such as Mayor Herman Mashaba’s monthly A Re Sebetseng clean-up initiative.

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