Councillors and residents clean up in Roodepoort
Councillor disappointed in resident participation
Although the cold and overcast weather conditions were not ideal for a clean-up, the second A Re Sebetseng clean-up day did see some participants.
The councillor for Ward 84, Gert Niemand, was joined by the Ward 70 councillor, Caleb Finn, the Regional Director for Region C, Mlamleli Belot, and a few residents at the Harry Brown Park in Roodepoort, where they joined forces to rid the park of litter, building rubble, pieces of glass and cigarette butts.
Gert said, “This is a brilliant initiative, but my biggest disappointment is the non-participation of the residents in the vicinity of the park. Unfortunately it is true that you do get a lot of complainers, but not a lot of doers, and if they do not change their attitude, nothing will ever change.
We all need to ask ourselves what we can do to change the city, not what the city must do to change it for us.”
Vanessa Barlow, who has been a resident of the area for the past 15 years, said, “I walk through the park every Saturday and pick up the litter that is left behind after the students have finished their drinking and braaiing the previous night. The loitering people, as well as learners from the various schools waiting in the park for their transport, also just throw their litter on the ground and leave. My mother, who is 82 years old, also cleans up during the week, when she sees litter lying around.”
Vanessa added that she printed flyers and went to all the residents in the neighbourhood, informing them about the clean-up and invited them to join in, but was disappointed by the ‘don’t care’ attitude being displayed. “If we, as residents, just changed our attitudes and joined hands to work together, our area would be clean, and stay clean. We need to take pride in our area and keep the spirit of Ubuntu alive,”she said.
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