KPCA Group launches Sweet Spot contest to beautify PMB

Residents, schools and businesses are being challenged to help make Pietermaritzburg beautiful again. Keep Pietermaritzburg Clean Action (KPCA) Group has opened entries and nominations for its quarterly Sweet Spot competition, which honours those maintaining and transforming public spaces, street verges and neglected corners across the city. The initiative forms part of KPCA’s ongoing “A Heart for PMB — Embrace Our City” campaign, which over the past two years has encouraged citizens to turn overlooked areas into thriving garden spaces.

“We are delighted to report that there are a number of very attractive garden spaces in our city, and it is time to reward these endeavours with Gold, Silver and Green Ellie Awards,” said KPCA Group campaign manager Lara Edmonds. Long-standing partner Save Hyper will sponsor vouchers worth R1 000, R500 and R250 across four categories: Residential; Schools/Education; Business and Organisations; and Township Gardens. We hope that this quarterly competition will inspire people to plant PMB beautiful again.

“We are looking for creative solutions,” said Edmonds. She suggested practical ideas such as recycled pots for hard concrete entrances or hardy aloes in areas prone to plant theft. KPCA Group is no stranger to the challenges facing businesses in the CBD.

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Its flagship “Sunshine Substation” garden at the corner of Victoria and West streets has endured two electrical fires and a fibre-cable installation. “Over 30 businesses collaborated to transform this ‘eyesore’ into a ‘beacon of hope’,” said Edmonds. We used gravel on the path because we knew it had to be a flexible space for excavations.

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