By Staff Reporter
GBS Mutual Bank has joined the “Verge of Change Makhanda” initiative, a community-led
effort to enhance public spaces across the city.
Driven by the ward 8 committee, the project encourages collaboration among residents, businesses, schools, and organisations to beautify and maintain local verges, street islands, and open areas.
As part of its contribution, GBS Mutual Bank recently improved the sidewalk along Hill Street, from its historic head office to High Street. The project involved replacing the deteriorating tar pavement with fresh paving and restoring the building’s original stone façade.
During the restoration, four stone-framed panels were uncovered and transformed into vibrant artworks by local artists Mook Lion and Sive Ntombana, celebrating indigenous plants like the King Protea and Rabbit’s Ear.
GBS also supported the restoration of a nearby corner building, revitalising its ground-floor retail space and the surrounding sidewalk. Residents have praised the transformation, which has added colour and character to the area.
“This project highlights what the ‘Verge of Change’ initiative is all about—restoring and revitalising our shared spaces,” said GBS managing director Jonty Fincham.
With this project, GBS Mutual Bank underscores its ongoing commitment to the Makhanda
community, blending history, art, and collective effort to inspire positive change.
Philippa Irvine and her team in ward 8 started the ‘Verge of Change’ earlier this year to change, revitalise and uplift their public spaces.
Irvine said through the project, they hoped to rally more support from the public to foster relations and drive change in the small town. While the project currently aims to drive change within ward 8, which comprises the CBD, Sunny Side, Fort England, campuses and Fingo Village, Irvine said with more help they would like to expand the project throughout Makhanda.
“The aim of the project is to encourage both public participation and active citizenry and improvement of the urban environment. To achieve this goal, the Makhanda citizens need to help, firstly by avoiding littering as this affects the beauty of our public spaces, and by also being intentional about joining us on the clean-up drive,” she said.
Cary Clark, ward 8 councillor, said while the small town had its flaws, she encouraged the community to do the little that they could to help beautify the town.
“There is so much negativity in Makhanda and so many things we are not able to fix ourselves, but there is so much we could still do to beautify our town.”
Clark said they did a beautification project in Riebeeck East, where she lives, and this comes from the love that she has for plants and gardening. Clark said the project can inspire people to clean and beautify their spaces so that it brings hope and beauty back to Makhanda.
The councillor and her team started encouraging businesses to adopt an island and a sidewalk. “Because we are a town full of incredibility artistic and talented people, we encourage all forms of art . The ward 8 community has so many plants donated and people, businesses have come on board,” she said.
Clark said she planned to engage the Makana Municipality to see how they can assist them with the project and to also take a step further and ask local businesses for donations of bricks, cement and tiles for some mosaic projects, to help beautify the town.
