“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
In Middelburg, there are still good men and women who do not just complain, but make a difference.
Difference makers!
The only reason why Middelburg does not irreversibly deteriorate like most other towns is due to its residents.

In this town, people fight tooth and nail to keep Middelburg beautiful.
Many still say, “Oh, what good does it do,” and then just keep complaining.
When businessman Fred Greyling takes the trouble to pay for a letter to be published in the Observer, and when attorney André Brandmuller stands up to be counted, there is still hope.

A few hours later, the park was clean

We need more Fred Greylings and André Brandmullers.
This past weekend, Councillor Helda de Klerk also raised her hand.
She called the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality’s cleaning department and requested that the park at the Tosca Centre be cleaned. The park is littered with homeless people.
A few hours later, the park was clean.

Even Mayor Mhlonishwa Masilela came to the party

There was also a pile of rubbish at the old Pick n Pay Centre near Frank’s Meat. She asked again if it could be cleaned. Before the sun went down, it was clean.
Streetlights and high-mast lights were repaired in Kanonkop, Eastdene, Mineralia and Extension 18.
Even Mayor Mhlonishwa Masilela came to the party.

He will be involved in projects in John Magagula Street, Church Street in Mhluzi, Van Blerk Park and Mandela Drive from July 15.
This includes road maintenance and kerb cleaning, replacement of water meters, tree pruning and park maintenance, ablution facilities and floor refurbishment, and streetlight maintenance.

“Resistance is someone else’s responsibility”

Perhaps we should read again what Brandmuller said, “Whether one calls it evil, decay or simple neglect, the principle holds true. A community declines not only because bad decisions are made, but because decent people decide that resistance is someone else’s responsibility.

“The challenge before us is therefore simple, but not easy: we must find the courage to do something. Not merely to complain. Not merely to shake our heads. Not merely to say, once again, that ’something must be done’.
“We must choose, every day, to address what is wrong in whatever small way is available to us. We cannot keep walking by on the other side of the road as if we did not see.

“Above all, we must become uncompromising in our pursuit of a town and a country in which neighbours can still love one another because they share more than a street address: they share a dream of accountability, decency and justice.
“I have decided that I am going to do something. The question is: will you?”