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“Spring is in the air for the communities of Rosebank and Mowbray,” says a cheerful Belisa Rodrigues, ward 57 representative and member of the Rosebank and Mowbray Civic Association (RMCA).
She is referring to the first day of the new season, which perhaps brightens not just the natural vegetation but the lives of many individuals.
On Spring Day the community hosted three events in different venues, serving different purposes with a similar goal.
The day started off with a gardening intervention by Communitree at Thandokhulu High School from 09:00 to 13:00.
“The green lawn, which is the first thing that greets schoolgoers, visitors and pedestrians on a daily basis, was being transformed into an indigenous water-wise wonderland. With the help of community members from Rosebank and Mowbray, the workload gets shared between willing helpers who want to give back to the environment and the school,” says Rodrigues.
This event was then followed by the opening of a new learning institution, the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education, on the corner of Batten Lane and Main Road in Mowbray.
The grand opening saw the institution throwing their first Arts Activist Street Festival, called Our ’68: Young Revolutionaries Arts Festival, from 14:00 to 17:00. Here guests were entertained by performances from high school learners depicting parts of central Mowbray such as the Mowbray transport interchange, taxi rank and train station.
“The performances were mostly performed in isiXhosa and covered social justice issues affecting the youth of today. They showcased the activist history of Mowbray during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s where the likes of Black Sash, UDF and Institute of Race Relations among others were headquartered,” says Rodrigues.
The Rosebank Neighbourhood Watch braved the cold and warmed up with a Spring Day tea on the Rosebank Village Green between 15:00 and 18:00.
Rodrigues says neighbours in the area were invited to meet one another over a cup of tea, along with their children and dogs, enjoying slacklining, frizbee throwing, and tea, coffee and home-made muffins.
