“MADIBA would be proud of us. I am a fan of his so I can guarantee that.”
This is according to Garth Bishop who donned rubber gloves and joined the Big Bedford street clean-up in honour of Mandela Day on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of school learners, farm workers from Donkerhoek, members of the SAPS, householders from the township and members of the bridge and garden clubs were among the band of happy people united in their desire to honour Mandela Day and turn back the tide of frustration and urban degeneration.
One group mustered for duty at the crossroads of Van Riebeeck and Donkin. Staffers from Eagle Hout Furniture factory joined forces with another group that gathered at the taxi rank.
By 11:30, close to 400 bags had been filled and carted to the dump with the assistance of Kempston Truck Hire and Bedford Spar.
“Let’s make it happen for Mandela Day,” was the call to action that helped unite Bedford citizens to take back a town which had been looking very sad and shabby with uncollected garbage and clogged drains.
“Why wait for Wednesday?” asked some who started collecting litter in the streets on Monday. SA National Civics Association (SANCA) members were hard at work again on Tuesday, filling black bags supplied from the Pam Golding Properties office.
Private vehicles loaded with garbage bags could be seen hurrying down Van Riebeeck Street towards the municipal dump from late morning onwards.
The Duke of Bedford Inn staff have always taken their own garbage bags to the dump and hotel groundsmen keep the pavements clean right around the block occupied by the hotel and in front of other Kempston properties in town. On Wednesday even the receptionist and chambermaids were out on the street filling bags.
The clean-up is tangible proof that Bedford residents are now ready to unite and neaten up the home town they all love. The past months have seen frustration boil over into public protest action to draw attention to non- delivery of service and a sense that local issues were not being “heard” by authorities.
Bedford was amalgamated with the new Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, which is run out of Alice.
While protest action rolled on, small groups of community leaders were meeting to establish allegiances and understanding of common ground.
SANCA is one of the structures involved in the discussions which have been characterised by old-fashioned good manners.
“We discovered we are all on the same page,” said Jan Alberts, chairman of the ratepayers’ association.
“The positive action is now gaining momentum and our dream for a better Bedford is becoming a reality.”
- The Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality, in collaboration with the Graaff Reinet Ratepayers’ Association, GCIS, sector departments and other stakeholders will, over the course of the month, dedicate their time to clean up the entire municipal area and take responsibility for cleaning up the environment.
Furthermore, the municipality, along with stakeholders, such as GRRPA and the Council of Churches, decided to take part in a 100-men march on July 18 to raise awareness of crime against women and children.
They marched from the Police Academy in College Street yesterday morning.