Gqeberha residents are pulling together to restore a busy but once gracious thoroughfare in Richmond Hill that has been brought to the brink by criminals, drug addicts, rogue tenants and tonnes of rat-infested rubbish and excrement.

For five months, the Russell Road Regeneration project has been pulling out an average of 100 bags of waste daily — and its efforts are now beginning to bear fruit, showcasing the park gardens planted decades ago by the municipality and the possibility for broader social, environmental and economic renewal...