Better Bedfordview’s mission is to clean up and restore roads, parks, pavements and public places. The community initiative is also repairing potholes and painting speed bumps and kerbs to make the streets safer for all road users.
Johannesburg, South Africa (13 October 2022) – “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has,” – these are the words of cultural anthropologist and writer Margaret Mead. A group of caring, committed residents in the eastern Johannesburg suburb of Bedfordview is putting them into practice.
They are taking back their suburb and their streets through a non-profit, apolitical, civil society organisation called “Better Bedfordview”.
“We founded Better Bedfordview because our once beautiful suburb had become a dirty, neglected disgrace,” says Marina Constas, who is the organisation’s chairperson.
She is also a Bedfordview resident, director of a law firm with offices in the suburb, and a long-standing community crusader. She headed up the local Community Police Forum for ten years; chaired Bedfordview Residents Action Group (RAG), a non-profit organisation focused on safety and security; and co-founded Community Hours, an award-winning online portal that facilitates community service for teens, schools, active citizens and accredited non-profit organisations.
Better Bedfordview’s mission is to clean up and restore roads, parks, pavements and public places.
Better Bedfordview is also repairing potholes and painting speed bumps and kerbs to make the streets safer for all road users.
“We cannot fix it all, but we can do something,” says Constas.
The organisation’s vision is “to harness the collective power of engaged citizens to improve our neighbourhoods and ultimately South Africa, one suburb at a time”.
“We can sit back and criticise the government and municipality, and we can hope for change, or we can be that change,” Constas states.
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Since its official launch on 1 June 2022, Better Bedfordview has repaired around 200 potholes in the suburb. The pothole repairs initiative and a major paving project are being funded through a substantial sponsorship from community-minded, proudly South African telecoms service provider, Afrihost.
“We are happy to pay forward on our own success and be part of the communities that we serve. We are delighted to be helping Better Bedfordview to make a difference in the community and we hope that our partnership will encourage more individuals and businesses to join the organisation,” comments Afrihost commercial director Greg Payne.
The City of Ekurhuleni has endorsed the quality of Better Bedfordview’s pothole repairs and agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding and a service-level agreement with the organisation.
Constas stresses that Better Bedfordview’s work does not mean that Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality gets a free pass and can sit back while the community does its job.
“We are providing civil oversight of our municipality to make sure its limited resources are well used through demanding greater accountability and transparency in all its activities.”
While improving and uplifting the area, Better Bedfordview creates meaningful employment. With funding and support from residents and businesses, Better Bedfordview has created jobs for 16 previously unemployed people who are sweeping streets, tidying, picking up litter, weeding, cutting grass, painting, paving, planting and fixing potholes.
“We will keep growing our team and creating more jobs as we get more funding and support from residents and local businesses,” says Constas.
The impact of the Better Bedfordview initiative is already reaching beyond Bedfordview. Max Lukhele is a member of the organisation’s clean-up team.
The 51-year-old from Daveyton says that working for Better Bedfordview has inspired him to clean up in other communities.
“Everyone is happy with what we are doing here, and I feel appreciated. Working for Better Bedfordview has made me take more notice of other communities. Now, I do my little bit wherever I go – like picking up papers. Keeping my own community clean is not easy. I always try to clean on the side where I stay. Better Bedfordview has taught me how important it is to live in a clean environment,” he says.
For more information or to join Better Bedfordview, email betterbedfordview@gmail.com
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