Step aside Bonnievale – here comes Potchefstroom!

Potch-Tlokwe Chamber of Commerce has set the wheels in motion to make a difference in the community and beautify the city. According to Rudo van Heerden, co-ordinator of Maak Potch Mooi, the chamber recently took a decision to support Tlokwe Municipality in its ongoing battle against litter.

“We do not claim to be replacing the community services department and neither are we trying to show the municipality up. We believe in the power of numbers, and what can be achieved if everyone works together for the common good,” he says. Council has warmly welcomed the campaign and enthusiastic local women have volunteered to become ‘trolley Mollies’, to supervise operations along the respective routes.

The Bonnievale initiative dates back to 2004, when Hansie Wolfaardt appealed to the community of the little Western Cape Town. “We live in one of the loveliest countries in the world, but it is being spoiled by the impact of human beings on the environment,” he said. “We have to do something about it.”

Not to be outdone by its picture-pretty neighbours, Bonnievale residents rose to the occasion and took ownership of their immediate environment. Before long the little flame of enthusiasm had spread like wildfire, not only throughout the community, but across the country. A welcome spin-off was that crime decreased in neighbourhoods that were clean and orderly.

Fast forward eight years to the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, where RSG launched its Droom SA national campaign to challenge individuals to make a difference in their respective towns. Potch-Tlokwe Chamber of Commerce immediately jumped on the proverbial bandwagon with its own wagon – the litter-busting trolley.

The approach is three-pronged – the other objectives are to improve parks and common land, and to resurrect the ailing oak avenue. Van Heerden says the chamber bought and adapted an existing prototype and commissioned Fuller Civils, a local company, to manufacture custom-designed trolleys. The city-wide roll-out started a month ago, when the first trolley took to the streets of the Bult.

The next ten will be in operation in the greater Potchefstroom on Monday and nine more are ready and waiting to be adopted by local businesses. Each will serve as a mobile advertisement for the sponsor company, which pays the salary of the person manning it.

“This is job creation at its best,” says Erika Kooij, PRO for the Chamber of Commerce. “For many of these people, this job will be the first on their CV. They will benefit from references from the Potch-Tlokwe Chamber of Commerce, and from ongoing training and courses to empower them. The chamber’s goal is to build a comprehensive database of reliable workers across the board,” she says. But the vision is a lot bigger than just a dustbin on wheels.

“It is a visible way of challenging the community to ‘Think Clean’. It also maximises ad exposure and we expect it to make a significant contribution in controlling crime,” she says.