As South Africa celebrates Heritage Day, communities across the country have embarked on various sporting and cultural activities, with an emphasis on community safety.
In Heatherly, Pretoria, a private entity organised a fun walk as well as a soccer tournament. Of major concern in the area is the high crime rate, with community leaders saying elderly residents are among those targeted the most.
An elderly resident who took part in the fun walk, Maria Matemane, raised concerns about bushes that demarcate different parts of the area, saying they are dangerous to walk through.
“We appreciate the soccer ground that has been created here because it will keep our kids busy and away from drugs. Our biggest problem here is drugs and crime. The bush right behind you harbours a lot of criminal activity. It’s difficult for women to walk through it without worrying about being raped or killed,” said Matemane.
She said elderly women tend to be targeted the most in the area, crimes she believes are fuelled by the high prevalence of drugs.
The government this week heeded the pleas of communities and began clearing bushes in Ekurhuleni, where the bodies of nine women were found in recent weeks.
Businessman Stemer Monageng, who sponsored the activities, said he shares the community’s frustrations and called for greater cooperation.
“I spoke to them here. We need to have maybe every quarter just a tournament, not this big event, but just a tournament so that they can love their sports. Then they will forget about other things, because such events are costly. In fact, I’ve adopted this area for every Heritage Day. We’ll be spending our Heritage Day here,” said Monageng.
Monageng also said residents had raised concerns about the lack of parks and community halls in the area.
“Furthermore, in their speech, they cried about there being no parks here and no community halls. So I said they must also draw up some plans and see how best we can assist, because maybe I can get some other business people to assist. Maybe we can try to see if we can create a park for them or create community halls for them. So those are the things that are most important for me, especially what they’ve raised. So yes, I’m excited about this,” Monageng said.
The official Heritage Day celebrations were held in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape and were addressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.