Publications
Partners
A walk among the budding flowers at Rondebosch Common is a vivid reminder that Spring is indeed the season for new life and rebirth.
Brett Adams, the outgoing chair of the Friends of Rondebosch Common (FRC), says now is the time to walk or visit the Common and appreciate its abundant, unique plant life.
“Most of the plants are very small, but very pretty. And new buds come out literally almost every second day – and old ones die off – so now is the time to appreciate the beauty and it is a very small window,” he says.
On a sadder note, Adams also recently announced his resignation from his position as chair of FRC. The previous chair, Tim Jobson, will be acting chair until a new one is elected.
Adams shares that he resigned mainly because of the serious demands the position placed on both his time and energy.
“Neither of which I, unfortunately, can afford right now. Perhaps in a few years’ time, I will be more able to serve in this area,” he says.
Adams was appointed as the chair of FRC on Thursday 21 January.
Since then there have been some exiting initiatives launched at the Common.
One of these is the voluntary clean-up group, who calls themselves Common Cause.
The group of volunteers meet every Thursday at 09:00 at the Common parking lot.
Armed with rubber gloves, braai tongs, and clean-up bags, they pick up discarded trash for an hour and help with weeding.
Their ongoing efforts have had a huge impact on the amount of litter usually scattered across the 40-hectare conservation area.
Jenny Strong, one of the volunteers, says they are sad that Adams is stepping away from the chairmanship of FRC but that they are very glad that he is still going to be involved with Common Cause, assisting with clean up and weeding.
“I think since Brett took over as the chair, there has been a noticeable difference. The Common is safer and cleaner, and there are less weeds. He has done a lot and it has not even been a year,” she says.
Strong adds that Adams also went and engaged with people who were living on the Common “to find out what their stories were”.
“He tried to help them, either to reintegrate them or to help find them work,” she says.
In May this year, People’s Post reported how Adams and Shirley Aldum, manager of the Rondebosch Community Improvement District (RCID), helped find Marnie Zoetenberg (72) a permanent, safe and warm place to stay at the Ceres Night Shelter.
Before that Zoetenberg had been living on the Common for more than 22 years.
The launch of the FRC’s website is another exciting project which came to fruition this year. Visitors to the site can learn more about the history, birds and fauna of the area that stretches over 40 hectares.
In addition, it provides information about the FRC which has been the community custodian of this area of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos since 1991.
Adams was also instrumental in getting a fundraising project off the ground in support of the Rondebosch Common Conservation Area Restoration Project.
Launched in July, the fundraiser – in the form of a competition – will run until December. It encourages residents to support the project by entering a competition at R30 per entry.
Participants stand the chance of winning a range of prizes every second month.
“On behalf of the Friends of Rondebosch Common, I would like to publicly thank everyone who has become a member and donated to our fundraiser. On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me. Both the financial and the verbal support is much appreciated,” says Adams.
He adds that in this day and age, everyone has to get out of the habit of always presuming an “issue” is someone else’s responsibility or job to do.
“We all need to take ownership of the things we value in our community. If you see someone littering, don’t look the other way, confront them in a soft manner and educate them. Likewise, if you see a person sleeping on the Common or behaving inappropriately, don’t avoid them, confront them and ‘educate’ them.”
Brett says both the police and the City of Cape Town are there to help the community.
“Use them! Phone the police, log a complaint on the City’s website (e-services) – it’s so easy.”
