Bluff pensioner encourages residents to work together for a cleaner community

HOPING to inspire people to change their behaviour, from reactive to proactive, The Bluff pensioner, Dave Nixon, together with various stakeholders who are on a mission to uplift the once flourishing suburb, is encouraging the community to be their ‘eyes’.

The 70-year-old said about three years ago, he saw a need for an intervention as people would often complain about the lack of service delivery.

“Having worked in business for many years, I learnt that there is no use complaining, you have to do something, be proactive or you will never see any change or progress. There would always be complaints about the poor service delivery, which resulted in overgrown trees, verges, bushes, or illegal dumping, among other issues.

“I decided to approach my neighbours with my idea to clean-up these places that people were complaining about, and they eagerly came on board. We purchased various equipment such as brush cutters, pangas and refuse bags, as well as employed labourers. So, as soon as someone would raise a complaint, we would sort it out,” he said.

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Nixon said he has recently joined forces with the Public Employment Programme (PEP) team, and the city’s parks department.

“The joining of forces followed a meeting with the ward 66 councillor, Zoë Solomon, and the various representatives from both parties about seven months ago, whereby we sat together and asked the question, ‘how can we help each other?’. The overall goal is to clean-up our community, and prevent it from being an eye-sore, and by working together, we are able to achieve much more.

“One of the greatest accomplishments for us at the moment was cleaning between 10 to 15 stairways and pathways that residents previously couldn’t utilise, and those that did, walked through thick bushes and sand. It was a major safety concern, as well as an attraction for illegal dumping, but no more,” he said.

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Nixon said while this is voluntary, the reward was seeing the joy it brought to residents.

“After cleaning one of the stairways, I was approached by a girl and her mother, who thanked me profusely, as they no longer had to trudge through bush, which was terrible on rainy days. Those simple words have a massive impact,” he said. Nixon said they were encouraging the community to be their eyes.

“We are not asking for anyone to physically come out and clean, but we ask that they message or call to notify us if there is overgrown grass, trees, or bushes, as well as illegal dumping. We will send out the right people that can sort it out. Let us start to be a more proactive, and less reactive community,” he said.

For more information on how to get involved, contact Nixon on 076 105 4215.

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