Decaying state of the Roodepoort CBD highlighted
Another challenge that was identified is the poor or non-existent drainage system. When it rains the area floods and adds to the bad state of the CBD.
On Monday, September 19 MMC for Economic Development, Nkuli Mbundu and MMC for Transport Funzi Ngobeni visited Ward 84 and walked through the Roodepoort CBD as part of their resolve to mitigate the service delivery backlog in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).
Roodepoort residents raised concerns about the decaying state of their CBD and it was against this backdrop that the team decided to visit the area.
The business community raised the same concerns, saying that it had a ripple effect on the growth of trade.
Key service delivery issues were identified, which ranged from poor workmanship by some city entities to illegal trading and hijacked properties.
It was discovered on the day that buildings which allegedly belong to the South Africa Post Office (SAPO) have been abandoned and have now become dilapidated. These buildings have been reported as crime hotspot by community members and subsequently these community members have requested urgent intervention.
Mbundu has committed to writing a letter to the Department of Public Works to establish who the rightful owner of the buildings is. He further highlighted the rife informal trading within the CBD; however, he believes that the rule of law must prevail and urged informal traders to familiarise themselves with laws that governs their trade.
Informal traders were encouraged to contact the municipality to apply for permits that will allow them to trade; failure to do so will lead to them facing the full might of the law.
Another challenge that was identified is the poor or non-existent drainage system. When it rains the area floods and adds to the bad state of the CBD.
An open hole which allegedly was dug by Joburg Water (JW) on the corner of Kroon Street and Albertina Sisulu Road was also discovered.
According to Mbundu re-instatement did not take place, however he undertook to contact the HOD at JW to do the necessary work and complete the job at hand.
Most of the paving along Albertina Sisulu Road had been lifted in order to install fibre lines. The contractor responsible for the installation also did not do any re-instatement after completing the installation. The MMC for Transport has committed to contacting the relevant department to resolve the issue.
The team then visited four hijacked properties adjacent to each other. The four properties belong to CoJ and were earmarked as parking areas, but have been turned into ‘a cash for scrap yard’.
Ngobeni confirmed that an investigation would be done in this regard.
In the past week Transport Committee members along with activists and community members conducted a site visit and engaged with Ngobeni’s office and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) at the Roodepoort Station.
