Colleagues from Landscape Services at the Arts Campuses who joined the big city clean up to create a cleaners, safer environment, MP Lekoloane, WS Motaung en ND Mphahlele.
The clean-up blitz kicked off with the cleaning of the area on Nelson Mandela Drive between Pretorius and Johannes Ramokhoase Streets, as well as along the Apies river. Once the area is clean, the operation will be sustained with regular cleaning activities.
Francois de Goede, Head of Landscape Services for the Pretoria CBD Campuses and Residences, said three colleagues from Landscape Services at the Arts Campus volunteered their services to help clean up their environment. On the first day of the initiative 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.
Francois explained that the area has posed many security risks for students, staff and members of public for a long time. Due to the rubbish, drugs, vegetation and general decay of the area, it has become an easy place for criminals to hide.
“The safety of the TUT community is a priority for us,” Francois explained. He added that Landscape Services will support the initiative as far as possible. “In addition to my colleagues assisting with the physical clean-up of the streets, we have donated poison to apply to the tree stumps of invasive trees that were removed. In the longer run we will continue to assist with the ongoing general clean-up and creating a safer environment for our students and staff.”
City Property reached out and asked TUT to come on board. The Faculty of Arts and Design will add magic by painting some bridge panels and the Arcadia Green Initiative from the Science Faculty will add their expertise as part of the initiative.
This forms part of a bigger initiative between City Property, City of Tshwane, Tshwane TVET College and TUT (Arts and Arcadia Campuses) to get all the business owners on board to reclaim the area between the two campuses to make it a safe zone.