Free ice cream was a sweet surprise for those hard at work cleaning up the old Brakpan Library on Heritage Day. A local ice cream business wanted to show their support for the project by giving each volunteer a 500ml tub of ice cream.

The clean-up was arranged by Brianna Mupaya (16), a local teen activist known for her children’s book Brakpan Broom, her involvement with the CyClean Brakpan cycling club, and her love for the historic landmarks in Brakpan.

One of these landmarks that fascinates her most is the old Brakpan Library, which was vacated after the new library at the Brakpan Ekurhuleni Customer Care Centre was built.

In 2018, it was reported that the library had fallen prey to vandals and vagrants, damaging a heritage site beloved by many in the town.

On January 19, 2024, the library was gutted by fire, delivering the final blow. Since then, only the walls with sandstone cladding have remained, and the site has become overgrown, filled with heaps of rubbish, and infested with pests.

Brianna hopes to put pressure on the City of Ekurhuleni to restore the library and other historic landmarks in town to preserve Brakpan’s heritage.

Cleaning it up was her first step, and she invited the youth of Brakpan to celebrate Heritage Day by helping preserve the town’s history.

The Clean Brakpan team worked alongside Uyasiphumelelisa, a local NPO aimed at empowering the community, while Harcourts also supported the project on the day.