Suburban
Dare to Love member and community leader, Daryl Hardy says they envision a Tshwane (Pretoria) in which residents volunteer to do the work that will keep their city clean.
Community organisation Dare to Love, the metro and residents conducted a clean-up and tree-planting drive at the Union Buildings recently under the Servolution movement.
Twenty fruit trees were planted along the triangle park opposite the Union Buildings along Stanza Bopape Street and litter was picked up under the guise of creating stronger community bonds.
The metro’s intervention team under the Office of the City Manager took part in the initiative and even planted the first tree.
“We are very excited about this movement,” said team member, Solly Manenzhe.
The metro also availed its cleaning and vehicle teams to the group of volunteers to assist in the effort.
Intervention team manager, Ella Grobler said the team has received and is following up on the mandate from the office of the City Manager to take better care of the 18 parks in the Tshwane region.
Trees must not be planted in a manner that would obscure visibility for motorists and pedestrians as safety and security remain a top priority for the metro.
This initiative comes after the metro’s environmental and parks departments, as well as the intervention team, met residents on November 11 at Prince’s Park.
Dare to Love member and community leader, Daryl Hardy said they envision a Tshwane in which residents volunteer to do the work that will keep their city clean.
“Our aim is to switch our mindset and city during the challenging times we all face currently on so many levels, by our evolution. When people feel down, they must look up to hope,” he said.
Dare to Love’s Servolution movement has been operating in Tshwane for years with the goal of making the Capital City greener and safer.
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Hardy believes the effort will uplift and inspire the community by giving individuals a sense of purpose and belonging. The involved parties intend to continue planting trees across the city to encourage residents to begin growing their own food in these times of economic instability.
“We plant fruit trees across the city. So there can be healthy food available to all, Zenzele Africa initiative where we encourage people to plant seedlings and produce their own food to alleviate the high cost of the food we are all experiencing.”
A further 10 mango and lemon trees were planted at Prince Park and Hardy said they have another 100 to go. Interested parties are invited to get involved.
“Come with a serving heart, filled with hope for a better tomorrow. Let it start in our city, and spread across the nation and continent. True heroes serve,” Hardy concluded. — Pretoria Rekord
