August 10, 2004
By Ndaba Dlamini
AFTER a marathon tour of Johannesburg's Region 5, affectionately known as "The West", mayor Amos Masondo had reason enough to say the region represents the best in the city.
The 5 August tour of the region took the mayor and his entourage of mayoral committee members and City officials to the luxurious Roodepoort Country Club, through the leafy, affluent Roodepoort suburbs, to the dusty streets of the Zandspruit and Matholesville informal settlements and ended up on a historical note at the Roodepoort Museum.
City officials touring Region 5
Region 5 covers Roodepoort, parts of Randburg, Olivedale and Northriding and is, according to the director of Region 5, Callie Coetzee, the most attractive region in the whole of Johannesburg.
The region also encompasses the spectacular Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens and is home one of the City's Freemen - Dr Beyers Naude.
The mayoral tour got underway early with a hearty breakfast at the Roodepoort Country Club. Here Coetzee presented a "state of the region" report, and the visitors were given a presentation on Cosmo City and shown a video on the area's attractions, plans and achievements.
Cosmo City is a low income, residential development project north of Randburg, costing some R1,5-billion. The initial phase will see 5 000 units of low-cost houses being built, as well as the erection of social amenities like schools and clinics and the construction of a road infrastructure.
In his opening speech, the mayor acknowledged the important developments taking place in the region and expressed his pleasure at visiting a region with such "historical depth". "We have no doubt we will emerge better persons after the tour," Masondo said.
The mayor said the challenges faced by the region were a microcosm of those faced throughout Johannesburg.
"The City is attempting to address the issues of unemployment; ending informal settlements and providing adequate housing for the homeless; and improving service delivery in line with the City's 2030 strategy. We want to build a world class city, a prosperous society underpinned by a caring society committed to economic growth," Masondo said.
Visiting Dr Beyers Naude
The mayoral cavalcade headed to the Zandspruit informal settlement in Honeydew, where the mayor handed a certificate of competence to a volunteer HIV/Aids caregiver at the Zandspruit Clinic and title deeds to five new homeowners.
Zandspruit settlement was established in 1994 as a transit camp for homeless people, but has since been serviced and upgraded into a permanent residential area.
In 1997 the settlement had over 6 000 shacks housing 27 000 people. According to Xoliswa Ndimande of Region 5's housing department, three areas have been formalised - Extension 9, Extension 10 and Plot 71.
"Most households now boast a water tap and toilet. Some have electricity and some don't. We have so far given title deeds to 96 residents in Extension 10 and are proud to give the honour to the mayor to hand over five title deeds to some of our residents," said Ndimande.
The mayor had some advice for the new homeowners. "Please don't sell your site or house to anybody after getting your title deeds. There is plenty that we have to do to solve the housing problem in the city and the process must not be derailed," Masondo said.
At the Ithuseng Senior Citizens' Club in Zandspruit, run by 40 elderly people involved in embroidery, dressmaking, confectionery and art, the mayor was urged to provide the club with a bigger building and sewing machines.
At the Boskruin Community Centre the editor of The Star, Moegsien Williams, presented the mayor with 4 000 blankets from the newspaper's Operation Snowball, "a charity that was born out of the plight of homeless people".
Masondo in turn handed the blankets to various charities, including the Gateway School for Children with Special Needs, the Forest Town Foundation and Sizanani.
At midday, when the heat of the afternoon and the dizzying tour began to take its toll, the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens became a beacon of rest and fulfilment.
The Laerskool Horison choir, adorned in the colours of the South African flag, welcomed the entourage with soothing sounds to the Eagle's Fare Restaurant. Nestling between majestic cliffs at the foot of the 70-metre Witpoortjie Waterfall, the restaurant provided a tranquil environment for rest and palaver about the black eagles breeding project being undertaken at the botanical gardens.
The 40-year old breeding project is one of the highlights at the gardens.
The black eagle pair has two nests near the top of the waterfall and alternate between them. The pair mate for life and every year around March they prepare a nest by adding new sticks and making a nest cap of leafy twigs. The male performs spectacular courtship displays and two eggs are laid around mid-May, four days apart.
From the gardens the entourage set off for the Sol Plaatjie informal settlement.
Hidden amidst the Roodepoort Durban Deep mine dumps, the Sol Plaatjie informal settlement boasts the first basic library service to be established in an informal settlement.
Established in 1999, 5 000 people are housed in 1 250 shacks here and, according to Ndimande, 80 percent of the residents are registered on the provincial housing list.
"The usual teething problems associated with informal settlements plague Sol Plaatjie. There are no adequate sanitary facilities and most people sublet their plots, which leads to gross overcrowding. Also, the available social amenities available are being vandalised," said Ndimande.
The mayor officially opened the Sol Plaatjie Library, a small but precious oasis of knowledge. Johan Fourie, manager of libraries for Region 5, said the library came out of the need to establish physical structures in informal settlements.
"The establishment of the library, though small and lacking in books, is the initial phase of informal settlement development," said Fourie. The mayor reiterated this, saying the library "is a foundation" in the ongoing efforts to develop informal settlements.
A few kilometres from Sol Plaatjie is the Matholesville informal settlement.
Here the mayoral delegation received a noisy welcome from hundreds of singing and dancing Matholesville residents.
Some residents had to perch on walls and elevated structures to catch a glimpse of the mayor. The streets were a hive of activity as the motorcade slowly made its way towards the Matholesville Skills Development Centre, spurred on by a suspiciously over-active group of youths clutching a one-litre soft drink bottle containing some non-descript liquid.
Established in 1995, the settlement is resident to more than 2 000 people living in about 700 informal shacks. The settlement is better developed than the Sol Plaatjie settlement and has an electricity supply.
Streets are sign-posted and the arrangement of houses is regular.
The City is in the process of completing a project to provide toilets for the community and 173 families occupying a private site are to be resettled to "adjacent land not far from Matholesville", according to Ndimande.
The mayor appealed to the community to bear with the City in its efforts to provide adequate housing.
"The City has plans to build houses for its residents. The present situation can be redressed with the help of the community and I appeal to you to attend Wednesday's meeting, where you will be given a chance to voice your concerns," Masondo added.
A public meeting is scheduled for 5pm on Wednesday 11 August at the Hillfox Power Centre in Weltevreden Park.
While at the skills development centre, the mayor planted vegetable seed in recognition of the need for self-sustenance.
After a hectic day, the tour finally ended at the Roodepoort Museum, where the mayor was taken through the museum to the sounds of the Sasol Pro Musica String Quartet, part of a locally based orchestra, playing pieces by Bach.
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