A group of councillors from Makana Municipality, members of Grahamstown's Muslim community and Fingo residents took on a clean-up campaign on Sunday, 25 January at Nyaluza Senior Secondary School in Fingo Village.
A group of councillors from Makana Municipality, members of Grahamstown's Muslim community and Fingo residents took on a clean-up campaign on Sunday, 25 January at Nyaluza Senior Secondary School in Fingo Village.
Councillor Paul Notyawa teamed up with members of the Muslim community to help the school clean up their grounds. He told Grocott’s Mail this was part of their social responsibility duty, as members of the Grahamstown community.
"Last year I met with the members of the Muslim community," Notyawa told Grocott's Mail. "We talked about the illegal dump site and the pile of rubbish near this school.
"We planned to assist the school when they re-opened this year and clean up this mess. We decided to do it today so that tomorrow when the children come to the school they find it tidy," said Notyawa.
He said they felt that the school is surrounded by dirt and no one was willing to clean it.
"We told the people who live in this street that we are going to clean the school, and they offered to come and help.
Our concern is that learners will catch diseases from this situation. To make things worse, 500 metres from here there is a TB hospital," Notyawa said.
Dr Naveed Anjum, who described himself as a member of the Grahamstown Muslim community said they had decided to spend their Sunday morning cleaning up the school with their families.
"We did not want to start big and not be able to succeed. We wanted to start with a small project in the beginning and then look for other school that we can also assist with cleaning up,” he said.
Anjum emphasised that Nyaluza is one of Grahamstown's historic schools, and deserved to be kept clean.
“This school is 73 years old and is one of the oldest schools in this community," Anjum said. "We thought as part of our social responsibility this could make a difference in our communities. We don't have to wait for the government to do things for our communities," Anjum said.
Also taking part in the clean-up were councillors Nomathamsanqa Meti and Malibongwe Khubalo, residents from Fingo Village's A Street and Nyaluza Senior Secondary school principal Zakunzima Tyala.
More in Friday's print edition of Grocott's Mail.
