When Carly Kay noticed the pavements overgrown with weeds and traffic islands that needed attention in her neighbourhood, she developed an initiative that isn’t only cleaning up Johannesburg, but empowering the city’s vulnerable residents with paid work too!
Johannesburg, South Africa (01 October 2026) – When Carly Kay drove through the neighbourhoods around her Johannesburg home, she kept noticing pavements overgrown with weeds, traffic islands that needed attention and stormwater drains that were blocked or damaged.
By the middle of 2025, she had started thinking about what she could do to help.
Work and family commitments meant the idea took time to develop. However, in March 2026, a conversation with the head of her new residents’ association led to an introduction to Cross The Divide, a Johannesburg-based NPO working with people experiencing homelessness, displacement and financial hardship.
That introduction became Pave The Way, an initiative Kay developed that uses community and business donations to provide paid work cleaning Johannesburg’s pavements and public spaces. Pave The Way’s first major clean-up took place on Bompas Road in May, documented in a video that has since received over 50,000 views on Instagram.
“I had reached a point where I felt I had to do something, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone,” says Kay, sharing her motivation behind starting the initiative.
“Cross The Divide already had relationships with people in the community and the structures of a registered NPO. That gave us a way to turn the idea into something that could actually operate.”
Pave The Way now operates under Cross The Divide as a community upliftment and job creation initiative. Kay runs the programme with Jeremy Redfearn and Susan Winkler, who started Cross The Divide’s feeding programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme currently provides meals to between 120 and 140 people each week.
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At 19 Nkonzwenhle Gets to Hear What the World Really Sounds LikeWinkler’s longstanding relationships with the men attending the feeding programme provided a starting point for Pave The Way. Men who would like to work can put themselves forward for the clean-up team, which currently accommodates between 20 and 26 people each week.
Wednesday is the programme’s regular clean-up day, with an additional Friday shift when funding allows. The team works for four hours, generally from 08:30 to 12:30, before returning to Winkler’s home where they are paid and receive a home-cooked meal.
Each work opportunity costs R250. Of this, R200 is paid directly to the participant, and R50 contributes towards his meal. Donations also help cover the equipment, protective clothing and refuse removal required to keep the clean-ups running. This means R6,500 is needed to provide one day of work for a team of 26 people.
Since May, the team has completed around 30 clean-ups. Its work has covered main routes including Oxford Road, Jan Smuts Avenue, Bompas Road and Winnie Mandela Drive, extending into areas such as Rosebank, Dunkeld, Dunkeld West, Saxonwold, Parkwood, Craighall Park and Hyde Park.
Community support has helped sustain that work. Approximately R180,000 has been raised since the programme began, mostly through individual donations alongside contributions from businesses. At R250 per shift and meal, that funding equates to around 720 paid work opportunities.
“The men are so grateful for the work, and they work so hard,” says Kay.
“They always ask me if they can work more days, which is something I’d love to be able to guarantee.”
Pave The Way is now looking for businesses that can provide regular monthly support. With R250 funding one paid shift and meal, consistent contributions would allow the programme to offer additional workdays and create opportunities for more people to participate.
Sources: Supplied
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