Tackling daily illegal dumping and disinterested residents in the eastern inner-city suburbs of Joburg is not for the faint-hearted. But for pensioner Yumna Beukes — fondly known as Mama Yumna — this is a daily task.
Every morning, from 5.30am, she is seen walking around the suburbs of Bertrams, Bez Valley, Troyeville, Kensington, Observatory, Bellevue East, Cyrildene and Bruma with a stick in her hand, checking out illegal dumping spots, seeking the perpetrators, arranging clean-ups and planting vegetables or succulents in hotspots.
In these problematic suburbs, residents wake up daily to dump bags, building rubble, broken furniture, old bicycles, wet waste and garden refuse on the streets.
To date, Mama Yumna has arranged for 32 community and vegetable gardens to be planted on “hotspot” pavements and empty stands which were filled with dumped rubble every week.
The sprightly 70-year-old interacts with everyone with no fear — tenants, owners, multiple-unit dwellers, building hijackers, illegal occupants and illegal businesses. She talks to them, persuading them to refrain from their activities, encouraging them to assist with street clean-ups and eventually threatening them with law enforcement if they don't listen.
We want a clean and healthy environment. We want people to take back the streets and have pride in their environment
— Mama Yumna Beukes
Feisty Mama Yumna, who has several diplomas in agriculture, has met resistance from many people during her inspections, but she shrugs it off as “unimportant”, and says when people refuse to cooperate, she simply cleans up for them. “I’m used to it, I don’t care. We will show them we are serious. We want a clean and healthy environment. We want people to take back the streets and have pride in their environment,” she says.
She recently paired up with a Kensington initiative Keep it Clean (KiCK) action group started by community activist Navin Bachu in November 2022.
The informal group has grown substantially over the last two years through a WhatsApp group, where hundreds of messages are posted daily about overnight illegal dumping and other problems. Their strategy is “clean, educate and enforce”.
Many suburbs have now formed street committees that monitor their areas and do regular clean-ups.
Mama Yumna also works closely with city officials and ward councillors, coordinating their activities. Bin audits are being done on every property, together with KiCK members, street-by-street, and property dwellers are being assisted with getting additional bins or refuse bags.
Often there is one bin serving 45 people, says Mama Yumna. The ratio for Pikitup is one bin for five people on a property. Many businesses have come on board with donations and labour.
Claudio Signor owns a hardware store in Albertina Sisulu Street in Bertrams. “The area was deteriorating badly. But when we saw Mama Yumna working alone, we offered our machinery to help with heavy stuff. This has made a huge difference to the suburb,” he said.
The group also now has the buy-in from many of the illegal occupiers.
“Even though some are squatting or renting from slumlords, a lot want their environment clean and neat.”
Mama Yumna approaches all the legal and illegal businesses that dump their rubbish onto the pavements. She advises them where to dump legally and how to get Pikitup to collect bulk items for disposal.
She tells of a case in Carnarvon Road in Bertrams where a shop owner was disposing of meat off-cuts into the street, resulting in blood and offal flowing into drains. “I got a wheelbarrow, loaded all the stuff in and dumped it in her shop. The shopkeeper is now part of our group and abides by the law. We have taught her how to dispose of her waste properly.”
Another was a small-business owner fixing cars on the pavements and disposing of oil into the drains and on pavements. Mama Yumna intervened, making him clean up the oil-stained street.
She said the city had failed, in the past, to do any by-law enforcement. Now, through this collaboration, many streets which were filled with litter are spotlessly clean.
Mama Yumna does not get paid for her work. She does it because of her passion for cleanliness. “I was working in the CBD and used to commute by bus. It was from the bus that I noticed how dirty the streets are and when I stopped working, I started my walkabouts.”
She has always been passionate about crop planting, soil rehabilitation, erosion and pollution. Shortly before she retired, she worked with a corporate, teaching children from Westbury, Brixton, Mayfair and Newclare about crop planting and how to create sustainable vegetable gardens.
The Pikitup Norwood depot team has been particularly instrumental in the suburb’s clean-up, with depot manager Philemon Mkhari taking a personal interest. “Philemon exceeds his duties by sending out trucks, even when they are not scheduled, to pick up large amounts of illegal dumping and personally responds to messages on the cellphone group,” said Mama Yumna.
Mkhari said the KiCK was greatly assisting him in keeping his ward clean. “I’m always happy to respond to residents’ requests even if it is at midnight. I want to see my area clean, and my residents are helping me to do this. The planting of vegetables and plants in hotspots has also stopped illegal dumping,” he told the Sunday Times.
Nonhlanhla Mazila, Region F educational and awareness officer, is also on board. “I wish we had more initiatives like this in Joburg,” she said.
“We support wherever we can with school education campaigns, workshops and door-to-door campaigns. We are happy that the community is behind us all the way. It is a shining example of how the community itself can keep areas clean,” she said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.