With spring promising a brighter side of life, bearing warm weather and the appearance of leaves and flowers, the Little Falls and Strubens Valley residents took advantage of this fact.
However, 1 September, the first day of spring, did very little to resonate with the idea due to the cold and windy weather.
Local businesses in both communities braved the plummeting temperatures and inclement weather conditions and came out to clean and beautify the entrance into Little Falls via Cascades Road on Hendrik Potgieter Road.
Previously covered in overgrown roots, sand and litter, the businesses in the area including BCI Security, Halo Vetkoek, Leapfrog Property Group Roodepoort, and Katay Racing in collaboration with Honeydew Police Station, the Little Falls and Strubens Valley Residential Community (Lifco) and ER24 spent money and their energy to give the sidewalks on the entry point a refreshing facelift.
Jenny Naidoo, a Lifco volunteer and employee of the Leapfrog property group, discussed the initiative. “The purpose of this initiative was to beautify the entrance of our community, but another purpose was to partake in crime-prevention initiatives in addressing the broken window theory (a criminology theory that seeks to suggest small things can lead to serious crimes),” she explained.
An active Corinda Loots from BCI Security added that another driving force behind keeping the area neat and tidy was the tragic death of Brenda Ruvando, who was raped and murdered almost five years ago. Her body was found on the morning of Good Friday in 2016 on the corner of Cascaded and Hendrik Potgieter Roads.
“What’s sensitive to us as a community is that Brenda was murdered here almost five years back. My company had put up a cross in her memory. So we look after the surroundings of the cross to try and show the community that we are here for them,” she said.
Apart from the flowers that were reserved to be planted around the entrance, some were laid around the cross as a tribute.
Corinda also mentioned that this was just the beginning of many collaborative efforts by local businesses to beautify the area and keep it safe.
“This project is part of our spring initiative, which we plan on taking to every corner of the community. We want this community to be brightened with flowers,” she smiled.
