Do residents feel the CBD is getting cleaner?

Pretoria Central is notoriously associated with being dirty, and since the current administration’s takeover, the metro has expressed its intent to change this through various measures.

Mayor Nasiphi Moya, accompanied by members of her mayoral committee, conducted a recent site inspection walkabout around areas in Region 3, where some glaring issues regarding the city’s cleanliness were brought to light.

Some of the service delivery issues observed include a lack of public toilets and illegal ads, parking and dumping.

She encouraged residents to adhere to by-laws to ensure the city runs smoothly, insisting that lawlessness in the city must come to an end.

“There is a public toilet on Sisulu Street in the CBD. Members of the public can use this facility without the need to urinate in public areas. Just metres from this public toilet, evidence of fresh urine is littered near trees and corners. This is not the city we want to live in,” Moya said.

MMC for Environmental Agriculture Obakeng Ramabodu, who was also in attendance during the walkabout, expressed similar sentiments, particularly calling out male residents who believe the metro is their personal toilet.

“This is what we’re experiencing, where people urinate everywhere, even when public toilets are available. We want to call on all our residents to stop this behaviour. Let’s take care of our city. We are fighting for a clean city, and you need to join us on this journey. We won’t have a clean city when people urinate wherever they feel like, and they have no excuse. There is a toilet just around the corner, so let’s work together.”

Ramabodu, who frequently shares clean-up efforts ongoing in the inner city, emphasises the need to live in a ‘clean city’.

Rekord took to the streets to find out if residents living or working in the CBD believe it is any cleaner, with the general consensus being that government social media posts don’t tell the full story.

“I just wish they could do more and be consistent. I also wish they could focus on Walkerspruit,” Ward 59 Councillor, Shaun Wilkinson said.
“If you walk down the Walkerspruit leading into the Apies River, it’s toxic.

Wilkinson said, “People are littering from Magnolia Dell, Brooklyn Mall, into Sunnyside, Arcadia, all the way to the back of the Caledonian”.

“There are so many areas. If you come down from the Apies River from the Mountains Valley, as you enter the Gautrain bridge, look left and right, there are incredible amounts of litter and toxic waste which poisons the water as well as the environment,” he said.

Wilkinson said the inner city heavily relies on private groups to handle cleaning the CBD, and while the metro can subsidise this, a few clean-ups with EPWP workers won’t be enough to manage the consistent effort the inner city needs. He also credited the work the Arcadia CID does in cleaning up inner-city spaces.

Catherine Keyworth, manager of the Arcadia CID, shared similar sentiments regarding consistency.

“Clean-ups from the executive are good, but it’s the unglamorous grind that makes the difference. Consistent progress is important – yes, the big operations are good to mobilise and get stakeholders together, but they can’t be one-off.”

Keyworth said, “There needs to be sufficient maintenance plans and follow-through”.

“Is it better to brush your teeth once a week for 30 minutes or every day for a couple of minutes?

She also mentioned that contractors dumping waste and rubble on corners and rivers is another huge issue, and asked that long-term solutions be put in place.

“Stop the bleeding, don’t just use a plaster,” Keyworth said.

Student and CBD commuter, Pretty Maseko, said not much will change regarding cleanliness as long as poverty, vagrancy and unemployment are the order of the day.

“At the end of the day, it’s a densely populated urban area, you can’t expect it to be spotless all the time.

“Some effort must happen to make the situation better, especially around Tshwane House. It stinks,” Maseko said.

Maseko said nyaope boys set up their camps, burn things, recycle and leave their mess everywhere.

“It’s only when these people can earn and make it easier in this economy that they will start to care about cleanliness, and real-life change can happen,” Maseko said.

Watch here:

Massage to Male individuals in the City of Tshwane . “ if the shoe fits, wear it “#EFFinGovernment pic.twitter.com/KJXPZUW8iQ

— Obakeng COT MMC Environmental Agriculture . (@RamaboduObakeng) July 2, 2025

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