How our community rallied together to clean up the Drakensberg

The route to the Drakensberg is a gorgeous country drive.

If you come from Gauteng, it’s a straight road through the Free State and then a meander down the Oliviershoek Pass. From the top of the pass, there’s a view site that showcases the mountains from the Amphitheatre in the north to Cathkin in the Central Berg.

From Durban, the road winds through the Midlands and passes the towns of Winterton and Bergville. The views, whatever the season, are spectacular. It might be the green of the mealies or the yellow of the crops ready for harvest and beyond these, the mountains rising into the sky.

It’s a beautiful area but in the modern world of consumerism, we have to work harder to keep things beautiful. It’s a sad state to see so much litter along the roads and the recent fire breaks help expose it all.

We eat, we drink, we chuck, we toss and we don’t often think of the very long-term consequences. In rural communities, there is no access to refuse disposal services and it takes committed corporates, active businesses and community initiatives to help alleviate the issues.

Recently we had Greenway Africa and Heineken come into the local villages to help clear dumpsites and they have committed to recyclable bottles in the future. We desperately need to work towards solutions for disposable nappies. Many land in water sources, polluting important drinking water. It’s all rather desperate.

But, we all want beautiful places. We yearn for holiday destinations that are pristine and so we have to be active citizens, helping our communities and partnering with our municipalities to get things done.

A WhatsApp conversation, started by a guy called Craig, sprung us all into action in the Northern Berg. The roads were messy and it was time.

On a Thursday morning, we rallied our teams and were set for a morning of cleaning. Gloves on, sacks loaded and off we headed.

The municipality sent a team and a truck and we gathered heaps of trash. Bottles, packets, papers and more. Every bit of litter from this area must be transported to the nearest dump in Bergville, 50km away.

The logistics and the expense of getting rid of waste encourage us all to look for solutions.

Stop selling water in plastic water bottles, use refillable body washes and shampoos for clients, opt for coffee grinds instead of pods, recycle cardboard, oil and papers and continually strive to churn out less waste. It’s a massive challenge.

It’s always a bit soul-destroying that it isn’t clean and sparkly for long but tons of waste to the dump is a step in the right direction. Let’s keep it up.

Active citizenry is how we rise to challenges and what a great community to be part of because do-ers surround us! And challenges are halved when we work together as a community.