A Small place with large issues

When I was told that my research topic is "water quality and environment", I immediately asked myself the following questions: why the environment? who cares about the environmment? I played down the importance of the topic.

A week down the line, my perceptions about the environment have radically changed. My negative attitude towards the subject has also changed. I now preach the same gospel as "The River God", Deanne Drake, Clive Chipkin, Anthony Turton and Cathrine Vogel and others. They have taught me a great lesson of a lifetime.

I now consider littering a crime against humanity. Surely, you don't want to be hauled before the International Criminal Court. But avoid littering at all costs if you want to be immune from prosecution.

There is a very big board written: "No Illegal Dumping: A fine of up to R5000 will be imposed". The letters on the board are written in big and flamboyant colours. The board is definitely visible even to the blind. Opposite it there is a shack written the following: "Sex for sale". Another one on the left hand side reads: "Prestigious offices to let". "It seems like they have made peace with their situation and have no intentions of upgrading their lives," I said to myself on seeing these boards.

 While strolling further down the squatter, I saw a dilapidated poster of the failed Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP), the government initiative which was designed to, inter alia, "upgrading existing housing environments". "Why so many contradictions," I marvelled. Formed in 1912, Alex has a history of poor upgrading schemes. History tells us that in 1980 a Masterplan was commissioned calling for the "total redevelopment of the township". The Masterplan declared that "all people will be living in comfortable homes, even the poor and the old". But nothing has changed. The ARP, like the Masterplan, did not materially touch on the lives of the residents of Alex.

 Allow me to pose this hackneyed question: where did the money go because the project failed? Dixon of the Soul Foundation answered, "Only the local municipal councillor would know". A gigantic budgtet of R1,3 billlion was earmarked for the project. Another issue which merits consideration is community activism in Alex. To be honest, residents of Alex did not strike as people who take the initiative towards remedying their plight. "Wait and see approach" is a glue that binds this community together. Are they united? A big "NO".

"Organising a community meeting is a mission, only a handful comes," one lady tells me. It would seem to me that this community unites only when it is blood thirsty. Remember last year's xenophobic attacks. This community was invincibly united against innocent foreign nationals. I doubt that they even heed anti-littering/dumping campaigns because there are papers, tins and bottles all over the place.

 Perhaps, they are just gatvol towards their undelivering government. But let's not lose hope. let us wait until my group finishes with its research, because this time around, we are going to get it right. I can confidently tell you that our recommendations are going to be irresistibly appealing in the eyes of everyone, including those with financial muscles. But, let's not get carried away, I have to get back to my research.