Tshwane - Property management company City Property has spearheaded a project to clean up the area around Nelson Mandela Drive in Pretoria, ahead of the Nelson Mandela Day which honours the global icon.
This week, City Property officials, under the guidance of managing director Jeffrey Wapnick, cleaned up the area along Nelson Mandela Drive, between Pretorius and Johannes Ramokhoase Streets, and along the Apies River.
“Over the next week, we will be transforming this environment. Our blitz operation will be sustained with regular cleaning. We are committed to ensure change for the future,” said Wapnick.
On Thursday morning, over 210 bags of rubbish and two invasive trees were removed from the small stretch of vacant land behind Leo’s Place, between Nelson Mandela Drive and Pretorius Street.
“Our aim is to create an area that is clean and safe for everybody to use. We will be clearing the area of rubbish, drugs and vegetation.
“From my visit to the site this morning, it seems an easy place for criminals to hide. Within a week, they will not be able to use this area for their illegal activities any longer”, Wapnick explained.
“As the clean-up is on Nelson Mandela Drive, we also celebrate Mandela Day this month. It was our great former statesman who said that ‘a good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination’.
“We love our city, and we know what needs to be done, and by calling on suppliers, stakeholders and staff we make a formidable team. I believe Madiba would be proud of what we are doing in the capital city.”
Wapnick said he hoped that the City of Tshwane and other stakeholders would join in the campaign. The property management company is calling on interested parties to join in the ongoing clean-up campaign.
“We hope that the City of Tshwane, tertiary institutions, schools, corporates and other property owners will join us. We want this to be a collective effort that will have a lasting impact,” he said.
City Property, which manages a diverse property management portfolio across Gauteng, has brought its stakeholders in to assist with the Mandela Day undertaking.
Catherine Keyworth and Stephen du Preez, from the Central Improvement Districts in Arcadia and Joburg, have been brought in, at no cost, to prove know-how and expertise, while City Property is sponsoring the cleaning and security, along with Lami and JC Security.
Last year, Nelson Mandela Day was celebrated differently in the wake of violent, wholesale protests in the country in July.
IOL