{"id":270042,"date":"2025-10-29T11:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/?p=270042"},"modified":"2025-10-29T11:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:16:12","slug":"committed-to-cleaning-up-the-soet-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/committed-to-cleaning-up-the-soet-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Committed to cleaning up the Soet River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Oasis \u201cReach for your Dreams\u201d, a non-profit organisation and City of Cape Town grant funding partner, has been leading weekly clean-ups along the chronically polluted Soet River since Tuesday 12 August. Their work goes beyond restoring the environment while also creating opportunities for vulnerable homeless individuals and youth from marginalised communities to rebuild their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oasis is one of several organisations that partnered with the City of Cape Town in May, and which received part of the City\u2019s R3,4 million grant funding allocation from the Water and Sanitation Directorate to implement community-based solutions, programmes and research in the water and sanitation space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Thursday 18 September, the City\u2019s Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, joined Oasis in Strand for a clean-up of the Soet River on Boundary Road, and participated in a community education initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SoetRiverclean-upbri_59992.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Councillor Zahid Badroodien with the volunteers and participants who worked side by side to restore the river, highlighting the project\u2019s social and environmental impact.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am truly inspired by the work of Oasis. Not only are they committed to cleaning up the Soet River, which is one of the City\u2019s most challenging rivers in terms of solid waste and pollution, but they are also changing lives in the process. Equipping homeless individuals with skills and opportunities to rejoin society is both admirable and impactful. It shows how environmental care and social upliftment can go hand-in-hand, creating lasting change for our communities,&#8221; said Badroodien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through its grant, Oasis is training 30 marginalised youth and homeless individuals in safe clean-up practices, hosting regular training sessions and community awareness drives, and leading at least 24 clean-up activities to reduce illegal dumping and restore the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founded in 2000 by Clifford and Anthea Martinus, Oasis has grown into a Philippi-based organisation committed to empowering disadvantaged communities through education, skills development, and care programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SoetRiverclean-upbri_59901.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">: Oasis \u201cReach for your Dreams\u201d is one of the City\u2019s grant-funded partners. From left: Clifford Martinus (founder of Oasis), Gertruide Hendricks (Oasis), and Councillor Zahid Badroodien during the Soet River initiative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The City of Cape Town\u2019s funding for the environmental clean-up project has been a game changer for us. With their support, we have been able to train and equip vulnerable youth and homeless individuals, expand our weekly Soet River clean-ups and increase community awareness campaigns. This partnership not only strengthens our capacity to restore the environment, but also allows us to create meaningful opportunities for people who need them most,&#8221; said Clifford Martinus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oasis &#8220;Reach for your Dreams&#8221; received City of Cape Town grant funding to lead weekly Soet River cleanups while training 30 homeless individuals and marginalised youth, combining environmental restoration with social upliftment in a project that transforms both lives and the polluted waterway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":270043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"64","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"30","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"2025-10-21","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"3","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"1","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_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Zahid Badroodien joined Oasis \u201cReach for your Dreams\u201d in Strand to support a Soet River clean-up and engage residents in an awareness drive.","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Committed to cleaning up the Soet 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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Committed to cleaning up the Soet River | DistrictMail &amp; Helderberg Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"City of Cape Town&#039;s R3.4M grant funds Soet River cleanup project by Oasis, combining environmental restoration with skills training for marginalised youth and homeless.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/districtmailhelderberg\/committed-to-cleaning-up-the-soet-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Committed to cleaning up the Soet River\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"City of Cape Town&#039;s R3.4M grant funds Soet River 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