Potchefstroom is the latest town in South Africa to register as a Love City, and the aim for this initiative is to become a national movement. “What you believe of your town, is what it will become.” With these striking words, Arno van den Berg started the first official ‘meeting’ of Love Potch.

Love Cities - Who they are and what they do

Love Cities envisions communities where residents take pride in their surroundings, neighbourhoods are safe for children, and everyone has opportunities to succeed, regardless of their background. The organisation seeks to inspire individuals to actively contribute to creating a better future by fostering social transformation and addressing community needs.

Through a proven model of sustainable development, Love Cities supports the creation of non-profit organisations that unite different sectors of society for positive change. The organisation is committed to building a learning community focused on discovering effective strategies for investment and partnerships that create lasting impact.

Founded by entrepreneur Matt Hogarty, Love Cities expands on the success of Love Howick NPC, which has empowered its community through initiatives in skills development, environmental care, economic growth, and social upliftment. Seeing a desire from other communities to replicate this success, Hogarty established Love Cities to guide them in implementing similar programs for transformative change.

The newest team member - Potchefstroom

Now this movement has made its way to Potchefstroom. Along with some key role players, and prominent members of the community, the gathering was deemed a great success. The groups shared some thoughts and opinions. At the end of the day, they were all there with one desire - to see Potchefstroom as the thriving city it once was. 

The Love Cities thus far

As previously mentioned, there are already quite a few love cities in South Africa. These include Nottingham, Bergville, Paarl, Howick, Mkhondo, Muldersdrift, Mpophomeni, and Potchefstroom. We are looking forward to seeing this initiative grow, and expand throughout the entire country.

Attendees partook in a rather impactful activity where they had to complete the following segments: 

• Big Picture (what does your ‘ideal’ Potchefstroom look like?)

• Emotions (what emotions are evoked when you think of Potchefstroom)

• Memories (the good or bad memories you have)

• Key Phrases (key phrases that are used to describe our town - positive or negative)

• Role Players (who are the key role players in our town?)

• Pain to Power (how can we turn ‘pain points’ into a power plan?) 

• How to win (how will we, as the community, know our town has ‘won’ by implementing these initiatives?)

• Strategy (how do we go about launching Love Potch, how do we get the community involved?)

Insightful discussions

It was very insightful to hear the opinions of various role players within the community, and the discussions brought some nostalgia for sure. This session provided some introspection for many attendees, and it reshifted and realigned the focus of so many individuals - Potchefstroom is really loved by its residents, and everyone would like to see it as the thriving, safe, and clean city and community it once was.

The entire community it excited to see where this great initiative will lead our vibrant town to restore it to its former glory. A last word of thanks goes out to Makojalo Venue and Guest Farm for hosting this event. To get involved in this initiative, visit the Love Potch Facebook Page or website.

Johané van Dyk - Potchefstroom