Bedfordview residents and Ekurhuleni residents as a whole can breathe a huge sigh of relief as the Ekurhuleni municipality has confirmed that gated communities will not be done away with.
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Only illegally erected gates will be removed, said metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe.
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He stated that during a meeting held on November 23 last year, the municipality’s intention to review and amend the Restriction of Access to Public Places (Road Closures) for Safety and Security Purposes policy was put forward.
“The main purpose of the meeting was to engage with the community prior to the amendment so that the community’s proposals on how to better manage gated communities could be incorporated in the new policy,” he explained.
Gadebe emphasised that the municipality did not propose that gated communities be done away with.
“It needs to be stated categorically that the municipality will not be removing gates in Bedfordview, except for those that were illegally constructed,” Gadebe said. “However, this can only be implemented once the municipality has followed all due processes.
“A consultant will be appointed to revise the technical guidelines as part of the policy and to develop restriction of access to public places by-laws. Once all the comments are consolidated and all processes complete, the policy will be submitted to council for approval.”
The implementation of the Restriction of Access policy will apply throughout Ekurhuleni without discrimination or favour, Gadebe stressed.
But the question of how road closures or the banning thereof affects the freedom to protect oneself and the freedom to access a public area still remains.
“The municipality, as the authority of municipal planning mandated by the Constitution of the Republic 1998, has an obligation to balance different rights of people as provided for in the Constitution, Chapter 2 (the Bill of Rights),” Gadebe said. “The municipality, therefore, must balance the right to freedom of movement and right to security, and furthermore ensure that development and democracy is progressive.
“In light of the above, proposals were called from the community to, amongst others, propose different methods to restrict public places (roads) for safety and security without undermining or infringing on one’s right to freedom of movement.”
Gadebe pointed out that the stakeholder meeting was one of the platforms which the municipality has made available for the public to make such proposals.
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