Business owners and patriotic residents of Delmas are continuing efforts to uplift and transform local neighbourhoods by reconstructing roads and cleaning up the streets. On Friday, July 5, the focus was on the roads of Botleng Ext 3, N12 section, and the Botleng complex. Scores of volunteers have been regravelling these areas to make them smoother and more drivable. They have also been removing plastic litter and debris that has accumulated along the roadsides over time.
Plastic pollution has become a real problem. When it rains, the water carries all this plastic into the streets and clogs up storm drains. By removing it, they hope to prevent flooding. In addition to cleaning up plastic, they want to restore a sense of pride. They are investing sweat and labour because they believe in Delmas and want it to reflect the character of their community. The improvement initiative aims to uplift these neighbourhoods and create a cleaner, safer, more beautiful environment for those who live and work in Delmas.
Thabo Motau, the co-founder of Delmas First, emphasised what they want to achieve with their campaign: “The biggest thing we want to achieve is social cohesion so we can work together. We want a cleaner Delmas, and we want to introduce a culture of cleanliness. We are planning to plant at least 2000 trees around Delmas to ensure that our town and townships are clean and likeable in order to attract investors,” he emphasised.
“We do not have a set budget for our campaign. The members of Delmas First bring food and provide transport to the volunteers who cannot make it to the destination,” Motau further explained. Delmas First, a registered non-profit organisation, comprises professionals, entrepreneurs, skilled workers, semi-skilled individuals, and citizens united by a shared goal: to restore Delmas to its former glory and attract investors once more.
The Mayor of Victor Khanye Local Municipality, Vusi Buda, shared his viewpoint on the campaign, “This is a good programme which we hope our community will support in numbers, and this campaign is going to help the Municipality in service delivery by grading the roads and cleaning up illegal dumping. There must be a technical committee that will identify the programmes to undertake every Friday, assisted by the Delmas First campaign,” Buda expressed.
One of the volunteers of Delmas First, representing the community, Themba Bindza, commented on the campaign in their town, “Since the campaign started, there is a lot of difference in our town. The town is now clean and neat, even though some people are still doing illegal dumping. The town is better now. We have been painting and renovating the town,” he commented.
