Gloria Papu stands at the Jarvis Street driffie that she’s been cleaning up along with fellow residents Helen Holleman and Ntombomzi Monakale. Many individuals and businesses, as well as Makana Municipality, have lent a hand in this labour of love which almost came to naught when heavy rain threatened to wash tons of plastic from an abandoned recycling depot back into the river. The site’s former operator has now returned and is in the process of sorting and removing the mostly plastic waste. Like her fellow eco-heroes, Papu has pleaded for residents not to throw their rubbish from their car windows, or dump on our streets and streams. Photo: Sue Maclennan