Cape Town: A non-profit organisation ‘Oasis – Reach for your Dream’ and the City of Cape Town grant funding partner has been leading weekly clean-ups since Aug 12, 2025 along with the chronically polluted Soet River.
Their work goes beyond restoring the environment while also creating the opportunities for vulnerable homeless individuals and youth from marginalised communities to rebuild their lives.
Oasis is one of the several organisations that partnered with the City of Cape Town in May 2025 and which received part of the R3.4 million grant funding from the Water and Sanitation Directorate of the City of Cape Town to implement the community-based solutions, programmes and research in the water and sanitation space.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien said on Sept 18, 2025, he joined Oasis in Strand for a clean-up of the Soet River on Boundary Road and participated in a community education initiative.
Badroodien stated that he is truly inspired by the work of Oasis. As they are committed for the cleaning of the Soet River, which is one of the most challenging rivers in the City of Cape Town in terms of solid waste and pollution, but they are also changing lives in the process.
According to him, by equipping homeless individuals with skills and opportunities to rejoin society is both admirable and impactful. It shows how environmental care and social upliftment can go together by creating lasting change for the communities.
Through its grant, Oasis is training 30 marginalised youth and homeless individuals in safe clean-up practices, by hosting regular training sessions and community awareness drives and leading at least 24 clean-up activities to reduce illegal dumping and restoring the river.
Oasis was founded in 2000 by Clifford and Anthea Martinus. Now its has grown into a Philippi based organisation which is committed to empower the disadvantaged communities through education, skills development and care programmes.
Clifford Martinus stated that the City of Cape Town’s funding for the environmental clean-up project has been a game changer for them. With their support, they have been able to train and equip vulnerable youth and homeless individuals, expand the weekly Soet River clean-ups and increase the community awareness campaigns.
This partnership strengthens the capacity to restore the environment and allow them to create meaningful opportunities for people who need them the most.