Facelift for Diepsloot roads
DIEPSLOOT - The Johannesburg Roads Agency has launched a multi-million rand project to upgrade the township's roads.
Children play in the lunar landscape of the construction zone, while adult residents go about their business, resigned to the dust and noise. Diepsloot’s 10km of untarred roads are getting an upgrade, thanks to a city-wide project launched by Mayor Parks Tau this year.
The project will see all gravel and dirt roads in seven Johannesburg townships being graded and tarred, while a parallel scheme seeks to upgrade the water infrastructure, installing storm water drains and covering dangerous open drains. The combined budget provision for these projects in Diepsloot is in the region of R46 million.
The project, which is on track to finish at the end of the 2014/2015 financial year, aims to provide all Johannesburg’s residents with roads that are safe, acceptable and secure, said roads agency spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers.
“We are looking forward to the benefit that it will bring to the community,” Peters-Scheepers added.
In Diepsloot, where all main roads and most secondary roads are already tarred, the most noticeable benefit will be to residential areas, and the inhabitants whose properties flood with rainwater in every storm. Local business should profit as well, as the streets are opened up to taxis, delivery trucks, and customers.
“For the first time, you have a tarred road going right through Diepsloot,” said Pierre Nel, City of Joburg’s Region A citizen relations manager, noting that the developments would also carry secondary benefits in terms of health, employment and property values.
Locals, while fatigued by the inconvenience and noise of construction, are positive about the change. Ziboze Ncupe and Simelinkosi Ndlovu who have run a corner stall for five years, look forward to the business benefits that will result from more cars and taxis passing through the area, while nearby resident Jeff Mashakeng said he was waiting to be able to bring his car into the newly-tarred suburb.
This is an ambitious project, long in the making, said Nel. “It’s awesome to see it happening.”
