AfriForum mobilises communities to improve the southern region

Over the past two months, AfriForum branches in the southern region have shown through several practical projects in the Western and Eastern Cape that communities are not powerless in the fight against municipal decline. Local branches, neighbourhood watches and volunteers in this region have joined forces as part of AfriForum’s ongoing efforts to improve communities through its herstel-en-versnel campaign, by helping to make their towns safer, cleaner and more functional.

During this period, the southern region carried out a total of 24 projects involving community safety, school safety, first aid, clean-up projects, training and restoration projects.

In the Garden Route, AfriForum’s Knysna neighbourhood team played an important role after devastating storms caused widespread damage in communities. The neighbourhood team removed trees that had blown over in Knysna, Simola, Rexford and Buffels Bay. At the request of the Garden Route District Municipality, the team also helped remove trees from roads in George. At Karatara Primary School, trees were removed from the school grounds, while the picket fence along the N2 in Sedgefield was repaired in collaboration with the community.

AfriForum’s George branch also distributed food parcels to about 800 children who had been temporarily displaced because of the storms. Meanwhile, the local branch in Worcester gifted a church with 60 loaves of bread to help feed people who had been left homeless after the storms.

In the Eastern Cape, AfriForum’s Mosel neighbourhood watch removed nine trees from roads in Kariega within five hours, including a large oak tree. Other neighbourhood watches in the Gqeberha area helped with traffic control, the removal of trees, river monitoring and the closure of flooded streets. The Winterberg neighbourhood watch assisted road users with vehicles and trucks on muddy roads and put warning measures in place to keep road users safer. In Cradock, volunteers also cleaned up a cemetery.

The branches in the southern region also maintained a strong focus on safety over the past two months. AfriForum’s Oudtshoorn neighbourhood watch carried out safety audits at Langenhoven High School and Wesbank Primary School, while AfriForum’s Oudtshoorn branch replaced lights on the grounds of Wesbank Primary School in an effort to improve security. In Paarl, three neighbourhood watch members completed a tactical instructors course in Mossel Bay, enabling them to train future neighbourhood watch members.

AfriForum’s branches also undertook clean-up and restoration projects. In Albertinia, AfriForum Youth’s Hessekwa branch and AfriForum’s Knysna neighbourhood team launched a clean-up operation in which 38 bags of rubbish were collected. AfriForum’s Theewaterskloof branch cut grass and removed branches in Bot River after storm damage. In the Overstrand, invasive plants and trees threatening fynbos were removed, while Kleinmond’s main street and the Hangklip turn-off were beautified. AfriForum’s Bredasdorp neighbourhood watch also gifted the community of Spanjaardskloof with blankets, beanies, candles and food.

“These actions show exactly what AfriForum aims to achieve with the herstel-en-versnel campaign: to build and improve communities that do not merely complain about the decline, but take responsibility for their own surroundings,” says Jurie Ferreira, AfriForum’s Head of the southern region.

The aim of the campaign is not to take over the responsibilities of municipalities or authorities, but to mobilise local communities and promote practical solutions where problems affect residents’ safety, dignity and living environment.

“Whether it is removing trees from roads after storms, making schools safer, providing food to those in need, cleaning cemeteries or training neighbourhood watches more effectively, every action builds stronger, more self-reliant communities. The southern region’s branches show that ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference when they work together in an organised way,” says Ferreira.

AfriForum is calling on residents of the Western and Eastern Cape to get involved with their local AfriForum branches and become part of practical community solutions.

“Our communities cannot afford to remain passive. Every street cleaned, every tree removed, every child helped and every neighbourhood watch member trained is a step closer to a safer and better South Africa,” Ferreira concludes.

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