Chris Hani Crossing Mall in collaboration with the Hope of Africa Foundation and the City of Ekurhuleni officially launched the “Giving Hand Garden Project” in Siluma, Katlehong on the 18th of July 2023.
Vanessa Kekana Marketing Manager of Chris Hani Crossing Mall explained, “The purpose of this garden is to fight back unemployment and poverty through agriculture. People need to be able to sustain themselves and their families and with this garden, we are giving the community a helping hand to do that.”
Six vegetable seeds were planted in the garden, Lettice, carrots, swiss chard, beetroot, cabbage, and baby spinach.
Nomonde Kiyane Ward 63 Councillor said “The municipality has given us these pieces of land to reduce hunger and to prevent these areas from becoming dumping sites because the more dumping sites we have, the more our health as residents become affected. We appreciate these gardening projects because they keep our communities clean and well taken of.”
“I would like to thank everyone who has made this project a success and I humbly ask that the young people working on this garden keep on working on it and ensure that it is well taken care of,” Kiyane added.
Siyabonga Sibiya the Deputy Co-founder of Hope Africa Foundation said: “Farming is overlooked by a lot of people and that negatively impacts the future generation, so introducing a project like this will open eyes to other people and hopefully it can encourage them to join the industry and keep the land sustainable.”
With this project, the community will get fresh plants/vegetables, and a few people will get a job and learn to work with plants and keep them fresh.
The garden handover was a success, amongst the community members that attended the project were the community youth leaders, Face of Chris Hani Crossing 2023 Katleho Moriri, Chris Hani Crossing promoters as well as Sibongile Mbaqo from Reel Gardening.
By Tshepiso Makhalemele
