Cape Town - A former Manenberg resident is determined to restore his childhood community to its glory days.
Arthur Charlez may be living in Durban but he is set on bringing about change.
Speaking to the African News Agency (ANA), Charlez said he had always wanted to make a difference in the community he grew up in and has been thinking of opening up a school for entrepreneurs.
He started the Facebook page "From Manenberg and proud of it“ in 2017, where many former residents not only share their memories but also keep in contact with many from the area. The group has nearly 10 000 members.
Three weeks ago, Charlez established the project Cleaner Streets.
“Three weeks ago I saw behind the local clinic the amount of dirt being dumped. Firstly I was disappointed, secondly disgusted and said to myself something needed to be done.
“I posted on the Facebook group about the situation and asked people to pledge R100 a month,” Charlez told ANA.
He said the area has had many delays in refuse removal, with City workers only coming every two weeks and sometimes not at all.
The refuse removal days are scheduled for Tuesday and many times when the City workers do arrive the residents are either not home or the elderly cannot get their bins out in time. Thus they resort to paying others to dump the rubbish somewhere else.
“We will be doing this project in phases. Phase one is cleaning. Phase two will be beautifying those places in order to discourage any dumping.
“Phase three will be acquiring wheelie bins and taking them to residents, swapping it out for their full bins which we will empty, wash and return to alleviate all the dumping in the area,” Charlez said.
This project will also be employing locals from the area. He said he knows it isn’t much, but he is paying R100 a day for the services rendered.
The project had five employees once it started, and this week eight, and he hopes in the next week their numbers can reach 10 people.
“With 10 people we can start splitting people into teams and take on areas which are a health hazard.
“Later we also want to tackle the stormwater drains and clean it out, but this is a phased approach.
“One person will also be assigned to road cleaning.
“The reason for locals is not just about job creation, but also ownership and accountability.
“This is all to restore pride into the area.
“The more people pledge, the more people can be employed,” Charlez told ANA.
Charlez knows this will not change people’s “dumping mentality” overnight.
However, the project also faces another hurdle: gang violence.
Charlez said during their launch, while they were cleaning the area, a shoot-out occurred and people just ran for safety.
“There were children also assisting and because of the gunfire they ran away. I didn't even have a chance to pay them for their service, to show them they didn’t come and work for nothing.
“The volatile gang situation is one hurdle I am not sure how to cross. I might have to speak to the police or the local gang leaders to say one day in the week we will be having innocent people on the streets trying to clean up the area,” he said.
While this entire project is self-funded, Charlez is urging residents to invest in it to bring about change in their much-loved community of Manenberg.
African News Agency (ANA)