Ms Africa and Malanseuns donate 400 trees

Centurion resident and Ms Africa 2024, McCayla Warriker in partnership with Malanseuns Pleasure Plants recently donated 400 trees to several organisations in honour of Africa Day.

The donations took place at Malanseuns in Rosslyn, Pretoria North on May 28 and the stakeholders collected some trees and others were dropped off.

Organisations involved included WESSA Harties, TUT, Arcadia CID, Local Abode, Hoërskool Zwartkop and the KwaNdebele Kingdom.

“When I got in touch with Malanseuns they offered 400 trees and we decided to optimise this, instead of one set donation we found six meaningful projects that will impact people in their daily lives,” Warriker said.

Warriker said Footprints For Africa and WESSA in Harties use trees for a women’s empowerment agricultural initiative. He added that the Zwartkop learners will learn how to cultivate bonsai trees and the intricacies of sustainable farming.

“According to what a lot of people say, our environment needs help but according to what I say, our people need help too. Our environment looks bland, sure there are bigger issues at hand but if it starts with something we can do, we should. I think at this stage, we’re living in a country that is so diverse and beautiful that not working to beautify it does it a disservice,” Warriker said.

Warriker, who has been Ms Africa since March, said she wants to continue to help as many communities as possible during her reign. For the next two weeks, she will assist the National Child Protection Association with school talks and has upcoming projects with WESSA, AfriForum and another 180 tree planting initiative in August with the New Acropolis Cultural Centre.

Manager of the Arcadia CID, Catherine Keyworth who received a bakkie load of spekboom trees said the donation will assist in purifying the air in the densely-populated inner-city.

“The spekboom trees will act as a filter in the air, it’s going to improve the air quality in the area as well the vibe, the feel and the energy for our residents. I have a sneaky suspicion that you guys need to look out for the corner of Hamilton and Stanza Bopape streets because beautiful things are going to happen, real change, tangible beauty, upliftment and joy,” Keyworth said.

Keyworth said the Arcadia CID looks forward to continuing with its glass recycling project which donates its proceeds to charities in the inner-city as well as environmental initiatives throughout the rest of the year.

Prince Thulani Gatsha Mrhetjha, the founder of Friends in Disaster Risk Reduction Africa, an NPC started in 2020, said the tree donation will help reduce climate change in KwaNdebele, Mpumalanga.

“These trees will be a catalyst to evoke the initiative to plant more trees. We’re going to get the mayors to plant the trees, all the leaders to plant some trees and we’re also going to be working with the Kingdom under his majesty King Makhosonke II,” Mrhetjha said.

“We are in the era of climate change, our climate space is changing and if we don’t contribute toward reducing the impact of climate change we may face a crisis. We need to contribute as humans to reduce the impact of climate change because when we were born, our climate was clean and pure but after us, it has been damaged. We throw plastic on the ground, and the water, we’re messing with the water, air and everything else, we’re cutting trees and not planting them so we need to push climate change education,” Mrhetjha said.

Mrhetjha said that FDRR is working on numerous other environmental projects throughout the year including one that aims to create 10 million jobs in the country.

“Thank you to McCayla and the team for organising such a beautiful initiative. I’ve learnt a lot from being here and I’m looking forward to collaborating in the future,” Mrhetjha said.

Stephen Du Preez, founder of the public space management company Local Abode, said his share of donated trees will be used in the Ellis Park precinct upgrades.

The upgrades consist of street lighting, public art, roadworks, security, cleaning and much more.

“We’re going to use the spekboom trees along the sidewalks when we upgrade, so people can see pretty sidewalks not just random grass overgrowing. We’re actually going to have cultivated gardens. We want to give people a world-class experience, let them know that Ellis Park isn’t what they think it is and because of the urban east. It’s actually a place that you want to come to so you can bring sports back, bring culture back and let people enjoy that experience, it’s one of the most historic places in the country. So we got to give a shoutout to Ms Africa for organising this effort and supporting organisations such as ourselves, ” Du Preez said.

Du Preez said they planned to finish the upgrades by August 31 before the South Africa vs New Zealand test match at Ellis Park.

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