Delft pensioner battles dumping in food garden
A DELFT pensioner has made a public appeal for support for a garden project she had tackled as part of her endeavour to keep her neighbourhood clean.
Nophaelo Mzimba, 51, started in 2009 by having a tiny garden in her backyard.
She has expanded it to a small piece of land outside her home, where less civic-minded people had been dumping anything from rubbish to rubble.
“I started the big project because my husband lost his job due to his weak health and we had to rely on a disability grant,” she said yesterday.
The demand for the vegetables grew bigger, but the garden space less. In the hope of starting a community project, she reached out to unemployed residents in the area. She started a bigger garden in June last year, but with no financial incentive the 15 people who worked with her left the project.
Mzimba, a grandmother, said she relied on the little income she made from her project. She loved the work, but said she was deeply frustrated with the dumping.
“I clean around the area every day, but people continue to dump,” she said.
Her efforts have motivated other residents. She said a neighbour, Monwabisi Ngowana, had started his own garden, but also needed assistance.
“I plead for people in my community to help so my project can provide others with a source of income”, Mzimba said.
Priscilla Urquhart, public affairs and communications manager of Peninsula Beverages, a partner in the Cape Argus Clean Your Hood Campaign, said they were most willing to assist Mzimba and would look into getting her some items for her garden.