Hennops Revival celebrates Mandela day with successful clean-up

The Hennops Revival team in partnership with Grow a Tree cleaned up and planted trees opposite the Centurion Lake Hotel on Sunday.

Over 100 volunteers joined the effort.

Grow a Tree, a conservationist organisation based in Centurion, promoted the event and provided the Wild Olive and River Bushwillow trees that were planted.

Sean Hide of Grow a Tree was very pleased with how the day went.

“We were able to plant over 100 trees and are very pleased with the amount of people who showed up.

“The Wild Olive and River Bushwillow trees we planted are endemic to the area will benefit the entire eco-system in a sustainable way.

“I’m also pleased with how hard everyone worked to clean up the area and the progress we made was very impressive,” said Hide.

Although he was pleased with how the day went, Hide feels a more permanent solution is needed to deal with the littering and dumping that takes place in the park.

The team did not allow its plans to be interrupted by load-shedding and was provided electricity by a private company.

Music was provided by DJ Dean Wolf to keep the volunteers inspired and full of energy.

“We cleaned the area the informal recyclers were removed from,” said Hennops Revival founder Tarryn Johnston.

“We had received a lot of complaints from residents about the mess there.

“I feel we really made a difference and I’m very pleased with the amount of people that showed up to help us.”

Johnston however feels that if more members of the community, especially those who complained, became actively involved, they could have made an even bigger difference.

Also read: Hennops Revival team and volunteers cleans ARC weir

“Based on the numbers of people who complained, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with the community.

“People shouldn’t just wait around for others to do the work for them if they want to see a change in their environment,” she said.

She urged residents to be more active in preserving their environment.

“Part of these clean-ups is to encourage active participation within our communities.

“At the end of the day, I was left with a bit of a mixed feeling, but obviously super grateful for the people that had the courage and will to actually clean their environment.”

Johnston thanked all organisations and businesses that got involved to make the day a success.

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