These were the discussions that took place at a dialogue held in Springs by Karen Tocher and the Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
In attendance were local business people and representatives from the metro.
“We are trying to pioneer a programme where business people and the metro work together to keep Springs crime- and grime-free,” says Mary Reynolds, the president of the Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“With the success of the pilot, we can disperse it across other areas of the town.”
Mary says the proposed initiative involves cleaning up surrounding areas on Seventh Street and Zig-Zag Road.
These areas have been identified as key problem areas that need immediate rehabilitation in terms of crime, and dirt from pollution and illegal dumping.
Karen says she has fallen victim to four break-ins in four years of here operating her business near the areas.
“We need to deal with these hot spots and have them cleaned up and monitored,” she says. “By doing this, we will automatically uplift the area and surrounding businesses.”
“What we are proposing is that the metro is at the forefront of cleaning up the identified areas and then we, as business people, will do the maintenance thereof,” says Mary.
“It is just about making a collective effort to revitalise and rehabilitate the town we all love.”
Customer Relations Manager of the Springs Civic Centre, Ace Phiri, says the metro is happy to partner on this initiative.
“We are in full support of this initiative because it is in line with the thinking of the metro,” says Ace.
“The metro has had immediate plans to clean up Springs and it is good to have the concern and involvement of local business people as well as the chamber.”
Ace says under the City’s slogan, ‘A partnership that works’, the metro will engage and work closely with stakeholders in the community to ensure that issues are addressed.
“This will automatically help us deal with issues of crime and other problem areas,” he says.
Mary says the support of the metro and the community as a whole will ensure the successful execution of this project.
“It is very encouraging that we are speaking the same language as the metro as this will make this process easier to facilitate,” she says.
