Concerned residents from Gugulethu rolled up their sleeves and cleaned the walkway at NY 1 on Saturday 19 July in an effort to promote the nature conservation.
They said the initiative was in honour of Madiba, late former statesman Nelson Mandela, whose birthday was marked the previous day.
The initiative was organised by residents of NY1, NY145 and NY146, with a special focus on two walkways, the Ithemba Walkway and the as-yet-unnamed one from NY1 to NY146.
NY1 chair Phyllis Sono said there was a need to clean the walkways as they were filthy. She said they had been ignored for so long.
“We decided to act and organise a deep clean of the walkways. This initiative aimed not only to beautify them, but also to promote community pride and ownership. As we approached Mandela Day we sought meaningful ways of celebrating it, which is how we decided on a clean-up.”
Resident Sahluko Konco urged the community to be more proactive and take ownership of civic responsibilities in their area.
He described the campaign as part of nature conservation awareness. “It is heartbreaking to see our community being disrespected in this way. “But today we took a stand and showed we care about our community’s beauty and well-being.”
