By ‘Maleruo Leponesa
It all started during the Covid-19 era – Donkin Street residents decided to regularly clean up their street together.
Cheryth Robertson owns a Donkin property: “My parents instilled in us to have pride for our neighbourhood. We would wander up to the Art school, and there was not a piece of litter on the ground. The environment was pristine and a wonderful experience.”.
She returned to Makhanda 25 years after attending school here to give her own children the same experience. She says it is sad that Makhandans now find themselves living in “such a mess”.
“It is unacceptable and robbing us of our dignity,” she said.
Donkin Street residents and some outside volunteers decided to take the initiative and do something about keeping the street clean.
“Our children no longer know the pride of coming back to clean streets. The mess contributes to the psychological chaos that we experience in our communities.
Philip Machanick is a Donkin Street resident and also a Makana Citizens Front PR Councillor. But he was mucking in as a citizen, not an official.
He picked up a cigarette stompie and said: “This ends up in the environment. It eventually washes downstream and ends up in the sea, and then all the marine life eats it, and then it comes back into the human food chain and ends up in our brains. So, you know, if you must smoke, put your dead cigarette stompy into the trash, not in the street.”
He encouraged all residents to do something similar on their own streets.
Just two people organised the Donkin clean-up, which was then discussed in a WhatsApp group and finally implemented. Machanick advocates the use of WhatsApp groups to enhance effective communication.
He acknowledged that the Municipality tries, but it cannot do it all by itself without help from individuals and communities.
“Part of the problem is that the Municipality does not pick up trash when they’re supposed to. And what happens is, if those things are still there hours after they’re meant to be picked up, the donkeys go after them, and then you have a huge mess.
“It’s not really the job of the municipal trash collectors to pick up all the loose stuff. They do try, so give them some credit, but inevitably, you find little pieces left over. And also because people walk past and they see trash in the street, it becomes an invitation to drop [trash],” Machanick said.
“You know what it’s like in the township, that some areas really look like a trash dump. Think of the children growing up like that. What sort of self-esteem do they have when they go to school? They walk through a trash heap to get there.”
There were four Donkin clean-up sessions prior to this one. So, this one was not massive – just touch-ups.
Makhanda always cleans up before the annual National Arts Festival. But Machanick said streets should always be clean, irrespective of upcoming events.
“You know, people must take pride in the environment because it’s our habitat. The environment is not just for wild things. It’s for us as well.”
