Witpoortjie car guards do their part to clean the streets

It is all too common for residents to live by the statement ‘I pay my rates, it is the municipality’s job’. Everyone wants to live in a clean, well-kept area but sometimes you need to put in the work rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

Witpoortjie residents have most likely crossed paths with two car guards who work outside the Plus Store on the corner of General Pienaar Avenue and Gregor Street. Tanya and Charlie Matthysen have proved that even if you do not have a home, you can take pride in where you live. The married couple has been living on the streets for close to two years – fending for themselves and braving the elements as they try to survive. Since they began working in the parking lot of the small centre, they have done what they could to keep the area clean.

Every week the couple cleans up the streets they live on, sweeping away dirt and picking up rubbish on the sidewalks and in the road. They do it without payment, just the words of thanks from the local store owners and a few residents who buy them food on occasion.

“We just wanted to do our part for the community and keep the area clean,” said Charlie. His wife agreed wholeheartedly, and added that they may not have four walls protecting them, they still want to keep the area clean. “No one wants to sleep surrounded by rubbish,” said Tanya.

The couple spend every day holding on to prayers and faith; faith that they will be safe that night, faith that one day things will get better, and faith that in time they will have a home again. Before losing everything Tanya worked in data capture and admin, while her husband worked as a scale technician. They hope to re-join the business world and begin building their life anew.