Recently the editorial staff of the Benoni City Times embarked on a “tour” around Benoni in a bid to get more in touch with the town.
Starting from our offices at the Northmead Square we endeavoured to cover as much of Benoni as possible in the space of a few hours.
Our aim of the trip was to find fodder for future articles, follow-up pieces on stories that may have been neglected and to share our combined knowledge of pertinent issues and places in Benoni.
I have been a resident of Benoni for the majority of my life (despite living in Brakpan in the first four years of my life, but ssshhhh don’t tell anyone) and I am genuinely proud of my hometown and the people who have put it on the map.
Our trip was quite the eye-opener for me and a few locations on the tour sparked my interest.
I firmly believe that these topics/issues will generate big debate in Benoni for years to come.
These are just three of the things that I saw which I believe will be major topics in the future:
The Benoni Mega-Mall – What about the frogs?
The estimated R6-million Mega Mall development is planned along the entire length of Ken Muir and Boundary roads in the Benoni Agricultural Holdings and is expected to bring the ultimate shopping experience to Benoni.
Sounds awesome right?
Yep, but there is also a major concern that this development will infringe on the forage paths of the Giant Bullfrogs from the Sandpan (and Countryview).
We love our amphibious friends here in B-Town so this one is definitely going to be a topic that will snowball in future.
The Sinaba Stadium – A white elephant?
As a community sports reporter the Sinaba Stadium in Daveyton is pretty impressive. A 15 000-seater football stadium in the heart of the township that hosted the New Zealand team’s practice sessions during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the majority of matches during the CAF Women’s Championship in 2010, now that’s cool.
However, despite some political events and the odd local soccer game every now and then the stadium (like many others in South Africa) stands vacant most of the time. With the PSL club, Benoni Premier United, bought out and moved to Richards Bay in 2006 I highly doubt that 15 000 bums will ever fill the Sinaba again.
Local football lovers have been desperately trying to get their beloved “Rabbits” back to Daveyton but this also appears to be highly unlikely.
The Cranbourne Lane of Fame – Famous Benonians lost in urban decay?
Established in 1975 by the Benoni Publicity Association the Cranbourne Lane of Fame is a unique idea that honours the Benonians who have brought fame and prestige to the town.
Some of the names who have put down their handprints include Hollywood actress Charlize Theron, boxers Vic Toweel and Sugerboy Malinga, international rugby referee Andre Watson etc etc.
It is quite sad though that the location of the Lane of Fame has fallen victim to urban decay over the years and that the Benonians who may have enjoyed seeing the famous names on the Lane are a little bit put off by visiting it due the general condition of the area around the Cranbourne Centre.
I am pretty sure that some of the people who work in the shops around the Cranbourne Centre don’t really give a hoot about Charlize and company.
