A multi-disciplinary city team conducted inspections of problem properties in Randburg this week, focusing on by-law enforcement and visible urban decay in parts of the CBD and surrounding suburbs.
Departments present included GFIS, Building Development Management, City Power, JMPD and EMS. The inspection started on Paris Avenue in Bordeaux and moved through to Surrey Avenue and Bath Avenue in Ferndale. Crum regional director Sello Lemao said the Randburg CBD remains a vital hub that must be protected from further decline.
“This is your Randburg. Our facility is here. Our JMPD offices are here. We’ve got the library here. The clinic is also here. The taxi rank is here. This is a CBD,” he said.
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Lemao said the area faces ongoing challenges linked to poor compliance with municipal by-laws, including illegal parking, mechanics operating in the streets and traders selling goods on pavements.
“We need by-laws, we need capacity of the police to make sure that we deal with this area,” he said, adding that business owners want stability and order in the CBD.
MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services, Sithembiso Zungu, said improvements in parts of Johannesburg show that Randburg can recover. “Randburg is small, colleagues. We can do this in no time. But it requires passion,” he said.
He also raised concerns about neglected areas.
“There’s a place where I drive, I think it’s Bram Fischer Drive. There’s just rubbish hanging on the palisade. It looks terrible. And if indeed we are claiming Randburg, we must deal with those places.”
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