Lately, a lot of negativity has been in the air and among the residents of Potchefstroom. Unhappiness with service delivery, potholes, and other issues has made the people of Potchefstroom lose hope.

One young man says that there is hope for Potchefstroom, and he is actively working to make a change and restore hope to the town again.

Peter Sebati (22), born in Potchefstroom and a proud former Boys High student, says he was in Bloemfontein for about three years. But God has called him back to his hometown.

After attending ministry school, going to Kenya, and working for a local non-profit organisation, he found himself asking God, “What now?”.

“About three weeks back, I was on my way to a meeting when I passed by Promosa Park. It was filled with a mountain of trash. I thought to myself, how would I go about cleaning this up? How was I going to convince other people to help me, and not just that, convince them to do it for free?”

Peter went on his merry way and didn’t give much thought to the park any further, until a podcast about illegal dumping came on the radio in the taxi.

“A local woman from Potchefstroom was talking about how filthy the town is. That is when I realised that this is what God wants me to do next. I told him, if He wants me to do this, He is going to have to send me some help.”

After sharing his idea with his friends, he headed to the park alone with just a pair of gloves, trash bags, a spade, and a rake. He walked into the waist-high grass and started cleaning.

“Suddenly, two men joined me. One even brought his own rake. I thought it would take months for me to finish this project, but on that very same day, 15 volunteers came to help.”

“I couldn’t even offer these people a drink or something to eat, but people walking or driving by saw what we were up to and offered to buy us food and drinks.”

The next day, the project continued, and the number of volunteers just kept growing. Most of the volunteers are people who have reached a low point in their lives.

“Over the last couple of weeks, I have really gotten to know these people. Some of them are unemployed, some are addicts, but they are all human and willing to help. This project has given them hope. Even on days when we don’t work, they show up at my house and ask if we can go work,” Peter explains.

Peter goes on to say that one day, while working, a municipal worker stopped and asked what they were doing. The worker promised to come back later.

“The municipal worker came back with 36 other workers, bush cutters, and a truck to remove the trash. That was a really good day. The grass was cut, and all the trash that we had collected was removed.”

At the moment, the team is leveling the ground to create a beautiful recreational space for the community. They want to plant some trees, get a new swing set for children, build a netball court, get some benches, close the park off to make it safe, and ultimately paint the devil’s fork once the park has been fenced off.

To continue this project and make the dream of a beautiful recreational space come true, they need sponsors. Either paint, equipment, money, or even just time as a volunteer. Every little bit helps a lot to bring a big project together.

“God is not finished with Potchefstroom. There is hope for our hometown. The change just has to start inside each of us. Once change happens internally, we will all want to make the world a better place. Let’s start seeing Potchefstroom through God’s eyes so that we can renew and transform our town.”

If you want to get involved with this project, please contact Peter on 061 475 1969.