-Adopt a Street-Clean City SA

Saturday mornings in Jozi’s hoods of Hillbrow and Berea never fail to become special moments, which makes this journey of restoring Mzansi a rewarding experience for Dalu Cele, a man after the city’s heart. Johannesburg City Centre, affectionately known as, “Jozi”, has ignited a flame that burns deep within Dalu’s soul, driving him deeper into the crevices of every dark alley. The broken streets know that he will certainly find a solution. The city is alive, groaning with heavy burdens that were never meant for her. The lesions of poverty have created a numbness of the heart that has become the connecting wire to addiction and deadly network gangs, who rob the innocent by day and stab a passer-by at night. Jozi weeps with bitterness for her charcoaled buildings and shattered windows. The stench of her torment is a heavy smog, choking the very life out of her and Dalu Cele hears her cries. His passion makes his inner ear in tune to understanding her pain and suffering.

With a heart of determination to save Jozi, Dalu Cele embarked on a journey to unite communities through Clean City South Africa, launched in February 2020. It is a community-based non-profit organisation (NPO), which intends to train Jozi’s citizens to modify their attitudes and behaviour towards littering and encourages them to respect their environment as they strive to return the inner city of Johannesburg to its former splendour, representative of its original name, Egoli-The Place of Gold.

Unfortunately, sustainability is unattainable through cleaning a street once and moving on to the next, as recognised by Dalu Cele. He needed to introduce a more sustainable strategy for Clean City and therefore put a team together that had the capability to implement a project of this capacity, as well as a team that aligned with his goal of saving our polluted environment. Bringing hardened communities and the streets of inner Jozi together to take ownership of their surroundings, to clean up their streets and to sustain them with pride, will be an achievement for Dalu's team that they will never forget. 

Dalu has a motto that says volunteering is valuable. With that in mind, Clean City launched a programme called Adopt a Street Volunteers Network which focuses on delivering a message through physical training that they hope to instil in the citizens' lives for generations to come. The motto Adopt a Street Volunteers Network lives by is: “where one lives, works, or plays, takes first place and should matter the most.”

Dalu is passionate about the environment, serving the community and making a difference in people’s lives. Starting his journey of community involvement and service after the 2011 Local Government Elections, when he served as a ward committee member in Ward 101, Dalu has never looked back from his dedication to the communities of Jozi that saw him elected as a Ward 101 City Councillor in August 2016. His role motivated him and was a driving force behind his feelings of responsibility. Based on this strong sense of responsibility to his community, which accompanied this role, Dalu feels certain that it is a calling and his purpose in life.

Through the programme that works on a points system, Dalu's Clean City SA strives to fight hunger in the communities. Volunteers who adopt the street they live on earn 10 points each time they attend a Saturday morning clean-up. Once they accumulate 120 points, they receive a Shoprite voucher worth R350. This whole process holds a deep meaning if one thinks about it. It creates unity within the communities and aids in achieving the goal of a clean and safe Jozi for all, but it even goes a step further and feeds those in need. Due to the visible impact and positive outcomes regarding health and safety and the uptick in demand for residential accommodation, due to the sustainable clean-up programme, Clean City SA seeks to expand its Adopt a Street Volunteers Network throughout Jozi and other parts of South Africa. They have also established a pilot Bulk Separation project at Source Recycling Solution, implemented in two residential buildings on Pritchard Street.

When in conversation, Dalu expressed his joy and commented that he is proud of all the achievements. Not only those of Clean City but of the people of Jozi as well. However, he also stated that we should all do better as South African citizens by encouraging one another to volunteer and by urging corporates to either sponsor a street or collaborate in the struggle to restore Jozi to her former glory, ultimately achieving environmental sustainability.

Taking a stand requires different support mechanisms.  Donations to support this worthy cause are always solicited, appreciated and welcomed, as captured in the message below from the Clean City team.

Join the Clean City team and do your part to save the environment you live in:
- To offer your valued support, contact Clean City SA’s offices.
1st Floor, Belair Shopping Centre
Bellairs Drive
Northriding,
2169
Office: 010 109 7069
Email: info@cleancity.org.za
-  To support the drive towards restoring the Johannesburg CBD to its former glory.
 email: donations@cleancity.org.za

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