Ward councillor candidates from 57 political parties contesting the 2026 Local Government Elections in Ward 70 have been set a challenge by two prominent community organisations.

Florida Block Watch and Florida South Residents Association teamed up to challenge ward councillor candidates – and by extension, the political parties themselves – to take part in a ward-wide clean-up campaign on October 31.

According to FSRA chairperson Rodney Churchyard, he was surprised when going through the official list of parties and candidates standing for the election in Ward 70.

“I’ve been involved in this ward my entire life, and there are a number of candidates and parties that I’ve never even heard of,” he said.

“This was the topic of a conversation with FBW chairperson John Kirsten, when, between us, we came up with an idea where these candidates and parties, who are all vying to represent our ward in council, can make themselves known to the community and do something positive for the ward at the same time.

“There are a number of areas within the ward that really could benefit from a good cleaning, so we decided to make a challenge of it.”

Churchyard said they approached different block watches and residents’ associations to nominate spots within their areas to be cleaned.

The forums agreed to nominate problem spots in their areas.

Clean-up locations drawn from a hat

“The various candidates have been challenged to gather at Cecil Payne Stadium on Saturday morning, where they will draw the area to be cleaned from a hat.

“It presents the perfect opportunity for them to do some last-minute canvassing, and to do something good for the ward they aim to represent at the same time.”

Kirsten agrees.

“As residents of Ward 70, we would like to see these candidates that aim to represent us on the ground, doing their bit for their ward.

“It also affords us as residents an opportunity to meet the various candidates.”

Candidates film clean-up efforts

To sweeten the pot, an agreement was reached that the candidates and their teams can compile a video of their clean-up activity on the day, to be posted online by the Roodepoort Record.

“It will be interesting to see how many candidates actually show up on the day,” said Kirsten.

“The local community WhatsApp groups have been instrumental in spreading the message of this initiative far and wide, so I believe the message has reached all the different candidates.”

The event starts at 08:00 on October 31, and is set to run until noon.

Candidates will gather at Cecil Payne Stadium and depart from there to their assigned clean-up spots.

“Candidates, their teams, and their supporters are urged to take part and show the rest of the ward what we can expect from them should they be successful in their bid to run our ward,” concludes Kirsten.

For more information, or to confirm your participation, contact Churchyard at info@iloveflorida.co.za, or Kirsten at info@floridablockwatch.co.za.