Striving to better the community of Benoni, Clean Project along with AfriForum, Benoni Taxi Association, Avenue Residents Association, Elevation Hub in Benoni came together and cleaned the streets of Benoni on Saturday, 20 July 2024.
“What we are doing here today is an initiative of clean projects to help clean up the Benoni area. What we have done is that we have included very good partners of ours that are always collaborating with us the likes of elevation hub in Benoni, AfriForum, Avenue residents association,” said Mervyn Manning, leadership team of clean projects.
Clean Projects it’s an NPO, and funded by very kind residents and very good businesses in Benoni.
“We are very pleased with the kind of work that we do. We clean up the roads and cut the lawns, clean the parks and keep them tidy. Other people should be doing this and it is not being done. So we as the community decided that we are actually going to do this.
“We have a full time team, so clean projects have also created employment for 14 people that work everyday of the week and they are actually here today with us. We fix street poles, paint walls that are damaged and it is what we are doing here today.”
Manning mentioned that it has been amazing working with the Team (all the stakeholders) and it is what has been happening from time to time when they join them in restoring the dignity of the Benoni area.
On Mandela Day, Clean projects handled the Great North road and also included the schools helping out.
“It is important that the schools also jump in because it is vital for the young ones to grow up and be taught about taking responsibility and not just throw things on the road. We also do lectures at schools about healthy hazards,” he ended.
Afriforum’s Head of Safety, Jacques Laubscher said their priority for the day was to do road safety and mentioned that the work that is being done by Clean Projects is a good initiative and if more people can join in they can make a huge difference in Benoni.
Concerned Sumari Bornman from the Avenues Residents Association Northmead highlighted the worrying state of the dams.
“The state of the Dams is really alarming with a higher sense that it is over taking all our Dams and is taking all the oxygen out of the dams and the fish are dying. We need the department of environment to come on board and assist,” she said.
“Since 2022 we have been part of these cleanup initiatives as the Benoni Taxi association specifically the taxi rank in Lakeside mall,” said Jerry Mosehla, the driver’s chairman for Lakeside Taxi Rank.
He further stated that they aim to create a safe environment for their commuters.
“We clean the streets, under the bridges and we also patrol at night. By us getting involved in these projects we are also trying to get rid of the stigma around the taxi industry being labelled as a violent space. Our focus is to protect our customers and the community at large,” he ended.
By Simphiwe Nkosi
