A community initiativeSouth AfricaPilot proposal

UPKEEP

Every street gets a Keeper.

Local people, paid a fair wage, each looking after the same few streets every weekday. Funded by the neighbours and shops who walk those streets, for less than a rand a day per house.

R27 per home, per monthR35/hr, above minimum wage~330 homes per KeeperMon–Fri, 07:00–15:00

Litter in = litter out.It keeps coming, so the Keeper keeps walking.

07:00 · 0 bags filled · 26 bits of litter

§1 · HOW THIS STARTED

He was already cleaning the street. Nobody was paying him.

“I’m not getting paid. I’m doing it from my heart.”A NEIGHBOUR PICKING UP LITTER · OCTOBER 2026

Walking through the neighbourhood, I met a man picking up litter on his own. Not collecting recycling, just cleaning. Nobody was paying him. He did it because he cares about the place, and because of his faith.

People like him exist in every suburb. They have the time and the will. What they don't have is a wage, a hat, water and lunch. UpKeep gives them those, gives each of them a patch of streets to own, and lets the whole community share the cost.

Locals keep it.

Keepers live here. They know the streets, the dogs, the corner where the bags always split.

Neighbours fund it.

Each home on a beat pays its share, about R27 a month. Anyone can give more to cover a street that can't.

Everyone sees it.

Photos every day, a report every month. You know what you paid for because you walk past it.

One big clean-up day looks good on Facebook and is gone by Thursday. The litter keeps coming, so the cleaning has to keep coming too.

§2 · HOW IT WORKS

Four steps, every single week.

Hire local

Keepers who live nearby, starting with people already doing this for free. Reliability is the whole job.

No CV needed. Show up.

Give a beat

A fixed patch of about 3–4 km of street, roughly 10–12 streets. Their name is on it.

Your street, your Keeper.

Walk it daily

Weekdays 07:00 to 15:00. Every street walked at least once a day, hotspots twice.

Out early, done by mid-afternoon.

Show the work

Before-and-after photos to the street's WhatsApp group daily. A one-page report to sponsors monthly.

You'll see it either way.

If a street isn't visibly cleaner in three months, stop paying.

MONTHLY PLEDGE · NO CONTRACT · STOP ANY TIME

§3 · THE KEEPER

A job, not a favour.

Job card 001UpKeep KeeperYour neighbourhood

ABOVE MINIMUM WAGE

We are not looking for free labour. Keepers are paid for every hour, registered for UIF and injury cover, and properly kitted for a South African summer.

R35 /hr

Keeper wage. The national minimum has been R30.23 since March 2026, so a Keeper earns about R38 a day more.

R8,800

All-in monthly cost per Keeper: wage, UIF and injury cover, lunch, water, sun protection, bags, kit and a small admin share.

R405 /day

What one working day of a Keeper costs the community, all in.

3–4 km

Street on one beat once it's clean. The first clean of a neglected street is slower: about 0.5–1 km a day.

~330

Homes on a typical beat, so each home's share comes to about R27 a month.

R10 /kg

What cans fetch at a buy-back centre. Clear bottles fetch about R3.50/kg. Recycling money is the Keeper's to keep.

TimesLIVE, September 2026

Every Keeper gets

R35 an hour, 8-hour day
Lunch every working day
Water, all day
Wide-brim hat + sunscreen
Two branded Keeper T-shirts
Reflective vest
Gloves + litter picker
All recycling income

What we ask of them

Can you be on your beat by 07:00, every weekday?
Will you post a photo at the start and end of each day?
Will you tell us which corners keep filling up, so the municipality can be called?

Costs are a working estimate using 2026 minimum wage and current SA retail prices for bags and kit. The 90-day pilot will confirm the real figures.

§4 · FUND YOUR STREET

What does your street cost?

One Keeper looks after about 330 homes for R8,800 a month, so each home's share is about R27. Move the sliders to see how close your street is.

Houses on your street

Neighbours who chip in

Average pledge per month

R100

Your street's share

R810

per month

99% funded · R800 pledged

Nearly there.

One household giving R810 a month covers its whole 30-house street. Two households at R500 cover it with change to spare.

§5 · WAYS TO GIVE

Pick a level. Every rand counts.

Neighbourper month

R50

Your home's share, plus a little for the streets that can't pay.

Street Patron30-house street

R810

Your whole street, covered by you. Your name on the street's monthly report.

Shop Partnerper shop

R880

Ten shops share one Keeper who looks after the centre's frontage and parking.

Anchorone full Keeper

R8,800

You fund a whole Keeper and a whole beat. Your name on their shirt.

…or whatever you can. Any amount above a street's share goes to the streets that can't pay.

§6 · FOR SHOP OWNERS

A clean front door sells.

Litter outside a shop tells customers nobody is looking after the place. A Keeper outside yours every day says the opposite, and wears a shirt saying who paid for it.

Ten shops in a centre sharing one Keeper pay about R880 each a month. That's less than most shops spend on a single cleaning call-out, and it happens every weekday. A centre owner can fund the Keeper outright and take the naming.

SHOP PARTNER · TERMS

Keeper on siteMon–Fri

Frontage + parkingwalked 3× daily

Shirt + signageyour names on it

Monthly photo reportfor your socials

Per shop, 10 sharingR880 / month

§7 · WHY YOU CAN TRUST IT

You see where every rand goes.

Daily photos

Start-of-day and end-of-day photos to each beat's WhatsApp group. A missing photo is a missed day, and you'll know.

Monthly report

Money in, wages paid, bags filled, streets walked. Sent to every sponsor.

Registered and insured

Keepers are registered for UIF and injury cover and paid weekly into a bank account, never in cash.

Tax certificates, soon

The plan is to register as a non-profit with Section 18A status, so donations become tax-deductible.

§8 · QUESTIONS NEIGHBOURS ASK

Isn't cleaning the municipality's job?

Refuse collection is, and the municipality does it weekly. Picking litter off every residential pavement every day is something no municipality does at this level. UpKeep tops up the municipal service, and works with the ward councillor rather than against the municipality.

Where do the full bags go?

To agreed pickup points on each street's refuse day, so they leave with the normal collection. Bags never sit on a pavement overnight.

What if my neighbour doesn't pay?

Their pavement still gets cleaned. Litter doesn't stop at a boundary wall, and a street is only clean if all of it is. Streets where enough neighbours give get daily cover first.

Who are the Keepers?

People who live here and want the work, starting with those already cleaning for free. Each Keeper is introduced to their streets by name and photo before they start.

Do I have to commit for a year?

No. Monthly debit order or EFT, stop any time. We're asking for a 3-month pilot so you can judge it by your own street.

§9 · THE PILOT

Two Keepers. Twenty streets. Ninety days.

We need about R17,600 a month to put the first two Keepers on the ground. Nobody is hired until the pledges are in.

How to join in

PLEDGES OPEN WHEN A PILOT STARTS NEAR YOU

Tell us your streetSo we can add it to the map and the right WhatsApp group.
Pick an amountAny amount, monthly, for three months.
Know someone who'd make a good Keeper?Send their name. We start with people already doing it.

KEEP YOUR STREET.