MONAGENG Nobela (53) does something abled-bodied people fail to do.
He hates seeing people throw rubbish and creating illegal dumping sites that breed rats.
Monageng is wheelchair-bound but has taken it upon himself to clean rubbish spots in Bekkersdal, Gauteng.
He sorts out the rubbish while sitting in his wheelchair, separating plastic from food waste.
Food waste is put aside to be turned into fertiliser, which will later be sold to small-scale farmers.
"I told myself that I don't want to be defined by my condition," he said.
The SunTeam found him cleaning illegal dumping sites near the local church and a primary school in Bekkersdal.
He said he realised that complaining about rats sneaking into the nearby houses and the taverns won't help, adding that he then organised a team of unemployed youth to help him clean the illegal dumping sites.
Taxi drivers who use the road near the illegal dumping sites donate some money for them buy food to eat.
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"Drivers passing here give us something so we can buy food to share with my team," he said.
Monageng has a project, Neighbourhood Love, which he said was founded to inspire others to do little to improve the kasi and stop complaining.
"We will appreciate any help from the government," he said.
Monageng said he was stabbed in the spinal cord in 1986 while working as a bouncer at a tavern, leaving him wheelchair-bound.
But he said using a wheelchair does not stop him from being an active citizen.
"I have been doing a lot of things like patrolling at night with police volunteers," he said.
To put bread on the table, he also does waste recycling.
"I put waste suitable for compost, and the other is sorted for recycling profit," said Monageng.
He encouraged residents that instead of throwing food in illegal dumping sites, they should rather dig holes in their yards to bury this waste which later forms compost for their food gardens.
"People should reduce drinking too much and start doing positive things in their kasis," said Monageng.
Siyavuya Qulu (38), who works with Monageng to clear dumping sites, said: "I am always with Ntate Nobela, and I find him as a strict manager, but he teaches us a lot of things."
