Rivonia community clean up their streets

'What better way to learn about environmental issues than to get out there and do it,' Smith says.

May 29, 2023

Duduzile Khumalo 1 minute read

Shayla Philpott, Angelica Homann, and Ingrid Homann are ready to clean the street of Rivonia.

As part of a series of initiatives being organised by the newly launched Rivonia Wide Residents Association, residents of the suburb turned out on May 21, to start a regular clean-up of Rivonia’s streets.

Charles, Andrin, Chiara, and Amy Liang’s at the clean-up.

Organiser Stephanie Smith said the campaign has two purposes: to make the suburb beautiful again and to help unify the suburb’s residents.

“As a community, we have become insular and isolated. One of the aims of our initiative is to clean up Rivonia, but we also want to get to know our neighbours and empower each other. We can all do our part, whether tidying up the pavement around where we live or spending an hour on the weekend picking up rubbish in the wider suburb.”

She highlighted that this clean-up saw about 30 to 40 residents who helped out, and collected over 20 bags of trash from the streets.

Smith believes this is the beginning of many successful clean-ups that will help the community.

Daryl and Vicky Taylor are determined to fill the trash bags.

“I am feeling excited about the upcoming clean-ups and projects. We are hoping to organise clean-ups in Rivonia once a month. The more volunteers we get, the more areas we can cover.”

It was nice to see families working together, doing their bit for the community and the environment, Smith concluded.