A BELOVED Warner Beach conservationist and community activist, Zeele Pauw, died peacefully at home after a four-month long battle with stage four lung cancer on July 26.

She was born in Nelspruit, now known as Mpumalanga, and schooled at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira High in White River.

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She was a suburban housewife who instead of choosing to rest on her laurels, rolled up her sleeves and contributed to her community and protected the environment in which she lived.

The SUN visited her husband of 42 years, Jan Pauw, along with those close to her, including her sister Yolande Kruger, Lee Lewis, Romy Wenzel and Ward 97 councillor André Beetge, to learn more about Pauw’s community work and who she was.

Jan said that there was nothing Zeele took on in life that she did not execute to perfection, from when they met at her mother’s card shop to all her community work later in life.

“If it were not for that rock that his elastic band could swing around, I don’t think I would be around,” he said.

Kruger said that her sister was extraordinarily humble and quietly went about her days touching the lives of so many people around her.

“She was resilient and tough as nails and no challenge was too big for this tiny little person to tackle and conquer. She went through a lot of challenges and heartache in her life. She lost her first child at two weeks old, but she knew how to rise up and move forward. The work that my sister did in the community alongside Jan was something that became a source of pride and passion for her,” said Kruger.

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Despite having no tertiary education, Pauw read books, researched online and qualified herself to take on conservation and beach regeneration projects.

“There is a Tanzanian saying that goes ‘Little by little, a little makes a lot,’ and I think that is something we can all live by. To find something we are passionate about and put in the work, like my sister did,” said Kruger.

Beetge got to know Pauw from police forum meetings over a decade ago and before long, became friends with her because of her true passion for her town.

“She used to find these projects in the weirdest places. She was not scared to get hands-on, so you would find her with a little bag picking up the dirt. Her heart was constantly in the right place,” said Beetge. He added that a little known fact about Pauw is that she had a passion for ballet.

She worked alongside community activist Lewis for a number of her projects. Lewis said she hopes the community will keep her legacy alive, not letting anything fall into disarray, whether it be the dune regeneration initiative or the community work she did.

Wenzel pointed out how incredibly passionate and proud she was of her conservation efforts. She joked about Pauw’s garden shorts, which according to Jan, she wore the same pair to clean-ups for 25 years.

She leaves behind her husband, Jan, younger sister, Yolande, daughter Vicky and two grandsons.

Pauw’s community work

• Subway and verge maintenance: Since 2015, Pauw initiated ongoing efforts to clean, paint, and landscape the Warner Beach subway area and local road verges, working alongside groups like the VOV Trust and Green Intentions Garden Services.
• Dune defence and conservation: Alongside Jan and local volunteers, she has helped co-ordinate the Winklespruit Dune Defence Project to clear alien vegetation, manage waste, and preserve the pristine local coastal belt.

• Youth and crèche initiatives: She has engaged local preschools and youths to build sustainable community projects, such as recycled-bottle vegetable hothouses and planting beds.

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