Luke Botha is the kind of man who sees a glass as half full, not half empty, and he believes that although Covid SA has battered SA, people can still drag themselves up and out. He has put his money where his mouth is and has started to transform the dilapidated municipal infrastructure into an oasis of calm. And he’s built a soccer field on a vacant lot of municipal land that used to be a garbage dump, giving residents of the nearby informal settlement a place to relax and enjoy themselves. “It creates hope,” Botha said. “I feel like the country has become hopeless. Also with Covid over…
Luke Botha is the kind of man who sees a glass as half full, not half empty, and he believes that although Covid SA has battered SA, people can still drag themselves up and out.
He has put his money where his mouth is and has started to transform the dilapidated municipal infrastructure into an oasis of calm. And he’s built a soccer field on a vacant lot of municipal land that used to be a garbage dump, giving residents of the nearby informal settlement a place to relax and enjoy themselves.
“It creates hope,” Botha said. “I feel like the country has become hopeless. Also, with Covid, I’ve just been showing people things that way for the past two years. Now is the time to take it back.”
In many areas in South Africa, municipal infrastructure is poorly or not at all maintained, which is exactly what entrepreneur Botha saw when he bought the Airborne Park business complex in Ekurhuleni.
But he did something about it and spent a small fortune beautifying a mile in each direction of his investment. Now others are following suit. Botha bought the business park just before the lockdown and financed the refurbishment of the public space out of his own pocket.
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He said, “I wanted tenants and their clients or visitors to feel better about the area when they go to work or attend a meeting.”
He added that when acquiring the property, he was stunned at the condition of the area. On one side was a festering, rotten moat and on the other, adjacent to the N12, a makeshift dump site next to an informal settlement. In between was a road with no markings, broken sidewalks and faded or no road signs. Now driving on Taljaard Road is a completely different experience.
Botha paved the sidewalk, had white lines painted on the street, added speed bumps and paid for new road signs, installed solar street lights and even signage pointing to his neighbors. Beyond the pavement, a sidewalk lawn is immaculately manicured and plush.
He said, “Somebody had to do it, and until I got here, nobody had it, so I just did it.”
The dump, which was once an eyesore and a health hazard, has been transformed into a new football field where the community plays seven days a week. Botha’s initiative is a good start for implementing the ‘broken windows strategy’ adopted by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his Police Commissioner William Bratton to clean up the then crime-ridden Big Apple .
It is a criminological idea that essentially argues that an environment, or, in the case of South Africa, a derelict environment, encourages civil unrest and crime.
Redecorating, as Giuliani and Bratton did, can reduce negative behavior, according to the theory. In a 1976 article, criminologists George L Kelling and James Q Wilson commented on the broken window theory and suggested that dealing with minor problems in neighborhoods empowers communities and people to use their public space.
They said run-down urban areas signal an area that is unkempt and encourage petty crime and prostitution, for example. Restoration and beautification can turn the tide and ultimately prevent more serious crimes. Botha’s efforts are certainly infectious.
The filthy canal has been cleaned up by neighbors Babcock and on the other side and on the road everyone is suddenly mowing the lawns and maintaining their own piece of industrial paradise.
City councilor Simon Lapping said the first time he drove into the area, he thought he was in a different country. While Botha has not sought permission from authorities to carry out his vision, Lapping believes no statutes have been violated.
“There was no value destruction, just improvement on an incredible scale. And this is what we need now in South Africa, communities taking charge of their territories and working together and, with municipalities, to reverse the counterfeiting.”
Botha’s investment in the area around Airborne Park amounts to several hundred thousand rands. And he plans to continue.
“The previous owner of the property didn’t seem to care much about maintenance and combined with the council’s inability to maintain the area, it was a very depressing environment. Going backwards will not happen on my watch.”
† [email protected] Vanir-exodus.co.za