March 17, 2003
By Thomas Thale
SATURDAY morning - always bustling with activity in the streets of Soweto - speeding taxis ferrying shoppers to the city, soccer fans off to watch the Soweto derby, socialites in a hurry to fill their cooler bags and, of course, the ubiquitous funeral processions.
Today, a different sight greets passersby on the streets of Senaoane Township. Workers, conspicuous in their orange T-shirts, are at work - sprucing up, painting and installing new traffic signals on the roads of the township.
Damaged traffic signals are replaced
These are volunteers galvanised by the Johannesburg Road Agency in a major campaign to clean up the streets, fix damaged traffic signals and install new ones where none existed before.
Some 100 JRA employees have joined hands with over 100 volunteers from the local community to give the streets of the township a facelift and to cut down on the road carnage. Armed with spades, brooms, paint, gloves and a grader, they set out to work - painting road markings, covering manholes, fixing robots, replacing light bulbs, cleaning storm water drainage, removing illegal signage and replacing old signage.
"Many streets in both Phiri and Senaoane had no road markings at all. There were no lines dividing lanes or signs indicating where pedestrians could cross," explains Pat Kunene, the local ward councillor. "As a result, there were many accidents involving pedestrians, especially on the corner of Mabalane, Khanyi and Mgweba Streets. There are many schools along the road you know."
The JRA involved members of the community to tackle another problem. "Vandalism of traffic signals and the theft of manhole lids was widespread in the area," says France Ledwaba, JRA spokesman. By involving the community in its campaign, the JRA hopes to "change the mindset - make people serve as the custodians of community assets".
By 1pm, the streets of Ward 15 look visibly renewed and ready to handle the heavy traffic. Exhausted, the army of volunteers retreats to the Senaoane Swimming Pool for refreshments, and to preview the soccer game which will get underway shortly.
