News

WATCH: Volunteers clean Atlasville

Together, the litter pickers filled 360 bin bags with rubbish, most from the open veld plagued by illegal dumping.

September 19, 2023

Fanie Mthupha 3 minutes read

Atlasville resident Helet Styger gives the veld a spring clean.

The public spaces around the intersection of Finch Street and Atlas and Elizabeth roads were a hive of activity on September 9, with scores of residents and local businesses descending on the area to tackle the eyesores and keep Atlasville clean.

Among those who supported the neighbourhood cleanup and joined the eco-friendly act were community members, including children, Indigo Wellness, MTBApp, Tazzman & Co, SA Skips, Intro Real Estate, Snappy Print, BetterBond, Brand Expert, CMS Security, Perimeter Protection SA, Foster Packaging, Rawson, Giant Panelbeaters, Yoga Buy Debbie, community gardener Roger, and the main sponsor, Consolidated Auto Ford in Boskburg.

The Indigo Wellness team led by the NPO’s director, Gina Fraundorfer (back row right).

The Intro Real Estate staff were actively involved in picking up litter from this green space, helping the community to tackle plastic waste and litter.

Colleagues from the main sponsor, Consolidated Auto Ford in Boskburg, joined with family to tackle the blight.

As part of the event organised by the Boksburg Community Project and backed by Consolidated Auto Ford, the volunteers, armed with cleaning equipment, including brooms, shovels, rakes, gloves, trash bags and brush cutters, picked up litter scattered across the green spaces and roadsides, swept sidewalks, cut the grass and vegetation, and painted the kerbs of the raised island at the intersection of the roads.

How the green space looked after the teams had removed mountains of rubbish strewn across the area.

Together, the litter pickers filled 360 bin bags with rubbish, most from the open veld plagued by illegal dumping. The rubbish was taken to the nearest dump site.

Uplifting the community

Consolidated Auto Ford’s Roxanne van den Berg stressed the importance of businesses’ involvement in community initiatives that sought to uplift the community in which they did business.

“Our company understands the community needs help, and we felt we needed to get more involved in the communities within our area of business. So we decided to help out here,” said Van den Berg.

Kgomotso Meshack and Neti Mkulubete load the bags of litter on to the bakkie before taking the waste to the nearest dump site.

“Apart from sponsoring the whole event and providing tools to assist in the clean-up, our team also got involved in picking up the litter and used our vehicles to transport it to the dump site.
“Being part of these initiative events is fun, and when you bring your family along, they help out, too. So, it’s not just team-building for the team but also a family
adventure.”

Pictured with one of the young volunteers, Zotha Mazibuko, are event organisers Helen Kruger and Des Lee, who vowed to continue the fight against litter poisoning the environment.

Van den Berg said the company want to be actively involved in upcoming community initiatives.
Responding to our question about the importance of contributing services and resources to meet community needs, Van den Berg said she felt that small and large businesses had a social responsibility to the environment where they operated.

Riaan de Wet and Sage Warner took on the task of painting the kerbsides of the raised island at the intersection of the roads.

She believes giving back to the community through sponsorship and active involvement had many benefits for the community, business and employees.
“It’s a good team-building opportunity and brings good spirit and morale at work. You can have fun in the sun and be part of the community. It’s good connections because you meet other people from different companies.”

Thank you
Boksburg Community Project’s Helen Kruger described the event as successful and thanked everyone who helped remove the rubbish in the area.

“Thank you very much for making a real difference. Without your support, we couldn’t take away the trash and paint our islands to make them more visible to motorists and our community.
“To businesses, your support also helps us employ unemployed and hungry people sitting on the streets. So, all these small initiatives sponsored by businesses like yours have a ripple effect on the whole community.”

Event organisers Helen Kruger and Des Lee give litter bags to Zotha Mazibuko, who was among the youngsters who proved no one is too small to make a big difference.

Kruger said these initiatives also helped foster a deep sense of unity.
“Our communities are so separated, and initiatives like this common cause bring us together and provide a fun day out where we can clean up our community and feel a sense of responsibility and achievement.”

Ford sponsored the Spur and fuel vouchers won by some waste pickers.

Here are some of the little ones whop participated in the clean-up. One of them, Eliana van den Berg, won a Spur voucher prize. They are (from left) Gabriel van den Berg, Eliana van den Berg, Isabella Fullalove and Abigail van den Berg.

The clean-up ended with a prize giving and a braai. Viera Mncube walked away with the fuel voucher prize just for participating in the clean-up.

Kruger also acknowledged a local family that showed commitment to all the community clean-ups since the inception of the community movement.
They are Sean and Rochelle Swartz, their son Brendon, and their mother, Melani Meyer, who cleaned the island on the corner of Brentwood and Finch roads.
“Again, thank you to all for making the day special.”
The activities ended with prize-giving. The crowd enjoyed boerie rolls prepared by other neighbourhood volunteers on-site.

Upcoming events
The team invited locals to join the upcoming clean-up sponsored by Dunlop on September 23 at the intersection of Elizabeth and North Rand roads.