Hug Your Neighbour movement makes its way to Potch

What started as a solution to managing the trash problem in Potchefstroom has evolved into a non-profit organisation building pride and love in the city. 

Advocate Jabram du Plessis founded the Hug Your Neighbour initiative in November 2015 after seeing the degradation of popular cities like Cape Town and Pretoria. Under this initiative, Du Plessis created the Maak Potch Mooi movement in an attempt to change the mindset of the community and encourage them to love one another. 

The idea of Hug Your Neighbour came about when Du Plessis saw people fighting in a bar and after getting annoyed at the staff, he told everybody to stand in line and hug every single person, reminding them to love themselves and each other. He aims to rid South Africans of the hate, greed and animosity from people who are trying to bring the country down. 

The Hug Your Neighbour initiative comprises three pillars: love God, love your country and love your neighbour as yourself.

This message is important to Du Plessis, which is why it also serves as the core of the Maak Potch Mooi movement. Once the project is up and running in Potchefstroom, Du Plessis will roll out Maak Harties Mooi in Hartbeespoort in North West and Maak Jozi Mooi in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

Instead of living in fear and complaining about the government, Du Plessis wants community members to take ownership of Potchefstroom and South Africa, while also uniting against the things that keep them apart. 

“Instead of language bringing barriers between people, they should be bridge-builders that create incredible opportunities between the various cultural groups of South Africa,” Du Plessis said. The end goal is also for foreigners to say that South Africa has the most incredible people, rather than foreigners fearing crime, he added. 

Through this movement, Du Plessis wants people to become self-sufficient and self-governed in the interest of their communities. Du Plessis and his directors showed initiative when they took to Hennie Bingle Street and Govan Mbeki Drive to fill potholes in an attempt to beautify the city again. Their next project takes place on 18 April in Klerk Street, where they will repair potholes, drains, pavements and property outside people’s houses. 

Although the movement is fairly new, the impact on the community already shows.

Brigadier Steven Moodley, station commander of the Potchefstroom police station, shares spiritual words with Du Plessis on a regular basis. The most recent one was Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, people are unrestrained.” This resonates strongly with Du Plessis who chooses a nonviolent approach in bringing the community together and believes that the people of South Africa need to see the beauty in the country and act towards maintaining it. 

After practising as an advocate for 31 years, Du Plessis is now investing all of his time and capital into rolling out movements across South Africa. He said, “I never knew that this would become a calling or a way of life, but it’s a passion and I want to make South Africa beautiful, because we need it.”

Du Plessis encourages the community to get involved by taking ownership of the environment around them by cleaning up the pavement or their property, picking up any litter they see in the streets and taking ownership of parks again.