Our Directors
Rhodes Abell
Local businessman and small-town superhero, our Chairman and director, Rhodes, spends most of his free time on managing the team and maintaining the town’s parks, clearing and removing litter and waste, and liaising with the community. His friendly nature, technical background and hands-on attitude make him a respected leader of the community.
Pierre du Preez
Estate agent Pierre was increasingly dismayed at the state of the town and how it impacted on property values. He decided to do something about it and started arranging informal community clean-ups. This led to meeting other likeminded people, and the movement grew from there. Pierre is also active in other community organisations such as the White River Ratepayers Association and Feed the Need, an initiative that feeds over 120 families weekly.
Lisa Gordon-Davis
An international consultant based in White River, Lisa supports the technical team with desk-based contributions such as marketing, record-keeping and media liaison. This is not to say she does not roll her sleeves up and get stuck in when there is ‘real’ work to do in the community. She is the custodian of the Ronnie Bester Park at the southern entrance to town, and is also involved with keeping various sections of town maintained.
Our Committee
Andre Vianello
Andre, our full-time Operations Manager, brings a lifetime of technical and other experience to this role. A dedicated TPO8000 supporter and CPF patrolled, Andre is committed to looking after White River and our people.
Hanlie Robertson
Hanlie handles the legal stuff - that includes our business registration, dealing with SARS and issuing tax certificates. She also attends to our financials.
Freddy Robertson
Freddy is a founding member of TPO8000, and a tireless contributor to addressing issues in White River. With his love for order and cleanliness, he led ‘Operation Asblik’ which placed an additional 60 rubbish bins around town. Freddy also serves as a FF+ Councillor on the Mbombela council.
Angie Abell
Contributes and supports where needed, whether plotting rubbish bins, potholes on Google maps, or helping out with banking, marketing and activities like clean-ups and park rehabilitation.
Johan Heymans
A tireless remover of illegal signs in town, Johan is also a very enthusiastic operator of our ride-on mower as well as other noisy outdoor equipment.
Rita du Preez
Rita provides support wherever she can, whether it is in liaising with the community, doing marketing or engaging with media and sponsors.
Nicolan Appasamy
Our youngest member contributes tech expertise and helps with social media, mapping and all-round support - this includes clean-ups and support to the ground team.
Suzette Mouton
Suzette is always available to help with projects and mobilise resources from the community. Her sensible and practical inputs prove her dedication to improving the quality of life for everybody in our town. Suzette serves as an ACDP councillor on the Mbombela council
Our Muscle
Our ground team puts the ‘Power’ into The Power of 8000. This tireless team can be seen working all over White River in their grey overalls, orange hats, and the TPO8000 banner flying above them. They do the work of ten men! Give them a hoot, a wave, a snack or a cold drink on a hot day. They really deserve our appreciation.
- Mduduzi Khumalo
- Alfred Hombe
Our Resources
TPO8000 has acquired an impressive collection of operational equipment.
- Zero Turn Ride-on mower: this workhorse was sponsored by Diana’s Bulbinella
- Trailer: On permanent loan from Pro Cooling Systems
- Tractor: On permanent loan from Industri-Link
- Trailer: On permanent loan from Taysec Security
- General operational equipment: brushcutters, backpack sprayers and hand tools
Our Partners
White River Youth Forum
This group of ‘Power Rangers’ have done wonders in White River with their energy, tenacity and enthusiasm. Led by Tshepo Sedibe, they tackled a monumental project of cleaning up in the Nature Reserve where vagrants had dumped hundreds of full garbage bags. There was rubbish everywhere, and the reserve was significantly overgrown. The team, nicknamed ‘Tshepo’s Rangers’, worked tirelessly for days in mid-summer heat, to clean it all up. Provisioned by community sponsors such as Oasis water and Galito’s to keep them going, they achieved an astonishing amount of work.
Tshepo says: “We are doing this from the bottom of our heart in love with our community and town. We want a safe clean environment and especially our community. A wise man once said to me “if you can’t change the country or world, make change in your community”.
That’s the mission and vision of our White River Youth Forum.
Thanks to Mr Rhodes’ wise words from him to us. It’s a long way to go but it can be short if we unite and work together as community. Thank you once again on behalf of our forum and looking forward in doing good for our town and community.“
Contact Tshepo to join the team of energetic and committed young volunteers: 078 124 5098.
