Various Sandton-based corporate companies have rallied to rebuild and give the country’s oldest and culturally diverse Alexandra a makeover.
This has resulted in repair and construction work to the Alexandra precinct which has at least six projects within its ranks. More and more development initiatives are said to be in the works as more and more businesses are convinced to join this initiative.
This has resulted in the formulation of the Sandton- Alexandra Committee, made up of a CEO and executives of some of the biggest companies in the area.
Some of these executives gathered at the IDC offices in Sandton as part of the business breakfast event aimed at encouraging more corporates companies to invest their time, money and resources into the rejuvenation project.
CEO of SA Day, Dr Bheki Shongwe, which is celebrated at the end of November each year, said that it was important for South Africa to learn from countries such as Australia who embraced celebrating what it means to be Australian when they mark Australia Day, their version of South Africa Day.
Brad Fisher, founder of Adreach and SDI said there needed to be economic activity that supplements every aspect of development and make-up project to ensure that people on the ground also benefit through skills and job opportunities.
“We want corporates not to pay lip service to the projects. We hope that by next year this time, we will be sitting with many more projects after the work that has been done to the Alexandra precinct. We need to be clever about the way we collect waste and add value to how we do this. We must ensure that the people, communities and children also benefit from these initiatives,” Fisher said.
Father of Alex, Linda Twala, added that more needed to be done to ensure that Alexandra, as one of the iconic townships, wins and becomes a thriving township.
“Alexandra is densely populated. Our main aim has been to get land in Linbro Park to ensure that we expand the township. We do a lot of work in the township, but we need to do more. We want our children not only to learn about aviation in the township, but to build planes from scratch. That is what we need if we are to be able to change and impact lives,” Twala said.
City of Joburg Speaker, Colleen Makhubele, who gave a keynote address at the event, said it was important to ensure that as the township was being revamped, those at the helm of this initiative do not forget the true spirit of the township.
“We may not be heavily involved in this initiative as the City of Joburg, but we need to make sure that as we develop the township we do not overlook civic education because we can build infrastructure but if we do not have world-class citizens to maintain and look after this infrastructure we may have to start again in 20 years’ time.
“Our people need to be taught how to behave. The issue is about the quality of our people, and this needs civil education so that people do not just litter or pee wherever and whenever they feel like,” she said.
The committee has already started on some of the projects to rebuild Alexandra township, such as the repair work to the Alexandra precinct which was recently given a facelift by one of the partners.