Life is a Garden | South Africa |

Representatives from the KwaMhlanga community, north-east of Pretoria, will be among the many community-based exhibitors to attend the Sunday Tribune Garden and Leisure Show in Pietermaritzburg this year.

The Silondoloza Amanzi ('we are saving water') Community Development Initiative was established in 2002 in a marginalized community 70km north-east of Pretoria. Since then, a group of 20 enterprising men and women have perfected the weaving of poplar stems into baskets, décor accessories and toys.

Led by Lebogang Mokoena, this group was originally formed as a Working for Water invasive alien plant clearing unit. However, as the work dwindled in their area, an exit strategy had to be developed.

Using the team's invasive alien plant clearing equipment (brush cutters, chainsaws and clippers), the women remove young sapling growth from grey poplars flourishing in the local wetlands of the Nkangala District around KwaMhlanga.

The poplar stems are brought back to a workshop in Phola Park, KwaMhlanga, where they are stripped and used for weaving baskets, trays, toys and décor accessories. The women have also set up a showroom at the workshop and over a period of years have experimented with painting the poplar stems in different colours as well as developing a range of products which are sold under the Poplar Products brand.

"Invasive alien poplar trees dry up wetlands because they need large amounts of water to survive," says Lebogang Makoena, the leader of the community. "Our teams go into the wetlands and cut out the grey poplars which are invading the wetlands", she explains. "The young soft stems of the grey poplar provide excellent wood for creating baskets as the stems are unpalatable to bugs and get harder and stronger over time," says Lebogang.

By cutting invasive poplars out of the wetlands, the KwaMhlanga community has established themselves as an ecological ethical, sustainable enterprise. "We are hoping that social enterprises such as ours, who are trying hard to create jobs in our community, we will receive support from the gardeners of KwaZulu-Natal at the Pietermaritzburg Show," says Lebogang.

Ladies from Poplar Products will be exhibiting their baskets at the Working for Water stand in the 'Stop the Spread - Plant Me Instead Hall' (Hall 2) at the Sunday Tribune Garden and Leisure Show in Pietermaritzburg (September 25-27).

For more information, contact Lebogang Mokoena on 084 648 5310 or Isaac Mothapo @ Working for Water's Value Added Industries ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) on 083 763 9326.