Queensburgh community cleans sidewalk step by step

Weeds, litter, and overgrown grass that defaced the sidewalk on Main Road in Malvern, Queensburgh, lost the battle over the weekend when AfriForum’s Durban West branch cleaned up a kilometre-long strip of sidewalk along this road. This project was undertaken in collaboration with community members from Queensburgh Tidy Towns.

The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s maintenance of sidewalks and other open areas in this municipality leaves much to be desired, and therefore the Durban West branch together with Tidy Towns went step by step on Saturday to clean up this stretch of Main Road.

“The Durban West branch management and Queensburgh Tidy Towns have decided to make a real difference to the cleanliness of the neighbourhood with this project. During this project, we cut grass and sprayed weeds growing in the pavement’s cement seams with herbicide,” explains André Johnson, branch chairperson of AfriForum’s Durban West branch.

According to Johnson, this branch intends to undertake several more cleaning and grass-cutting projects in the Durban West area this year as part of the branch’s sustainable projects. “We invite the community to become part of these initiatives,” he adds.

“AfriForum notices daily how service delivery is deteriorating and that communities themselves must step in to tackle services, such as the renovation of parks, sidewalks, and other public areas. Even though this is the responsibility of the local authorities, more and more communities are now taking the lead in this,” says Eugene van Aswegen, AfriForum’s Provincial Coordinator for KwaZulu-Natal.

Van Aswegen emphasises that clean-up projects like this have several benefits for a community. “Communities that roll up their sleeves to improve their neighbourhood develop a valuable sense of community pride. It also provides an opportunity for individuals to get involved and feel that they can make a difference and it establishes meaningful relationships between community members,” he explains. “In addition, projects like these promote an extremely valuable do-it-yourself culture among communities.”