Across South Africa, our small towns and large cities are all grappling with the stark reality of neglect, mismanagement, and sabotage.  Our dream of a ‘rainbow nation’, brimming with opportunity, economic inclusion, ubuntu has been shipwrecked by empty promises from government, business confidence is at an all-time low with many battling to keep their doors open, service delivery is waning and the heartache of continually saying goodbye to family and friends who are leaving for ‘greener pastures’ in other countries weighs heavy on hearts. This is often reflected in the media, with news of further corruption in our community leadership dominating headlines, continual gripes about the state of failing infrastructure and often angry letters written to no one in particular but shared by many as the common negative sentiments of our communities.

‘Little did I know, but I too had fallen prey to the power of negativity, projecting my own pain, self-limiting beliefs and disempowered thinking onto the community. My complaints became the only way of appeasing my conscience, keeping me trapped in a destructive cycle of powerlessness.   My conscience would often remind me when witnessing the broken state of our town, that ‘something could be done to change things’. I didn’t want to hear it. I felt inadequate, scared and overwhelmed. The job looked too big, the challenges too numerous and my scarce resources didn’t match the task at hand’ remarks our Founder, Matt Hogarty.

‘This all changed one Saturday morning as I was driving around town. It was a normal Saturday, and I was on a mission to get through our weekly shopping list at the local grocer as quickly as possible. Travelling with my wife and kids into the centre of town took all of five minutes, but as I entered this Saturday my usual habits of complaining were at an all-time high. Verges that looked like forests with overgrown grass, waste colouring the pavements and what was left of the roads after potholes had grown to the size of bunkers, became the target of my negativity. I could have earned a Ph.D. in negativity during those years, if there was such a thing, as I looking at the bleak possibilities of change that lay ahead of me. As I turned towards our destination, navigating the chaos caused by broken streetlights and trying to avoid a head-on collision as an approaching vehicle veered into my lane to miss one of the many potholes, there was a moment that changed everything.

My five-year-old daughter who was calmly sitting on the back seat while I was ranting and raving quietly waited for her moment to do what only children can do, and pierce through the quagmire of our fortified thinking to ask a simple question that changed everything:

‘Dad, why are you always complaining? Why don’t you do something to change it?’

If that wasn’t enough, this question was quickly followed up with a very graceful response from my wife, sitting beside me in the passenger seat – ‘Yes – do something about it?’

I had suddenly been exposed. The realization that I had given into the narrative that I was powerless to bring any positive change, or the notion that its someone else’s job to change the state of our towns and cities in this beautiful Nation called South Africa, suddenly could not be ignored.’

This was the starting point of a revolution in thinking that resulted in the birth of a movement to bring people together to change their communities. Launched in Howick, Kwa Zulu Natal during September 2015, this movement has become a catalyst for change.  Sparked by collective action, public-private partnerships and a will to ‘be the change we want to see’, the story continues as the Love Cities network invites you to become the builder, restorer, and uniter to make your community great again. Let’s defy the critics and shape the future of this beautiful land.