Sam Twala and friends are tackling the serious problems with infrastructure in Harrismith by doing it all themselves, fixing things one project at a time!
Harrismith, South Africa (17 February 2020) – In a town where nothing works correctly, the community are downing their pitchforks and rolling up their sleeves instead.
It is all too common to see buildings on fire, streets filled with people and police firing off tear gas and rubber bullets when communities are upset about service delivery. Protesting is the only way most know how to ask for change, but the problem is, it feels like nobody is even listening anymore.
Sam Twala and a few friends decided that they were done with the chaos and violence of protesting and wanted to be the change! Nothing works properly that they admit, but by pooling their skills together, they are rebuilding Harrismith for themselves.
Harrismith has been looted beyond repair, and now, nobody in government is coming forward to help restore the city. The citizens are at a loss, desperate to live in a functional town once more.
The BBC visited the city and found out more about Sam and his colleagues. Together they are repairing what is broken and restoring the dignity of the community.
Sam is such an inspiration to anyone that meets him. His passion for fixing the community’s problems is bringing everyone together.
Many may argue that it isn’t the citizens’ responsibility to fix what is broken but when nobody else will. That is just one opinion though and as Sam says, he would rather start becoming the solution.
Take a look at the BBC feature on Sam below.