June 3, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
A SMALL queue is forming in front of the multi-purpose centre in Alexandra, as people sign up for the municipal services subsidy. It is 10am and already about 50 people have been registered.
Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo, on a road show of Region 7, stopped to chat to those still waiting in line. The municipal services subsidy covers the costs of refuse removal and sanitation and is in addition to the free basic municipal services provided to vulnerable groups.
Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo and children at the Alexandra Children's Library
Masondo and his executive committee, senior officials and the City's chief operations officer, Sibongile Mazibuko, spent Thursday, 2 June checking up on developments across the region.
Sefulara Rametsi, the community liaison officer at the Alex multi-purpose centre, said she already had registered about 50 people for the subsidy that morning.
"More and more people come to register everyday. Sometime we have to turn some of them back because they don't have the necessary documents." Among the documents needed are: the applicant's South African ID book; a copy of their latest municipal account; and proof of earnings or an affidavit confirming they are unemployed.
Next to the community centre is the Alexandra fire station, where the mayor and his team inspected the construction of a new building. Once completed, it will be a Besafe centre. "We want to invite the community to use the centre so we can teach them about fire safety," said the station commander, Anthony Kok.
"We are actually targeting children because we believe that if we can get the message to them about fire hazards they can teach their parents as well."
The mayor's next stop was Number 3 Square sports facility. Here a 80m-skateboard park is being erected - the first of its kind in the country. It will be a centre of attraction for the Alexandra community, according to Desmond Sweke, the director of settlement planning services.
"Many people know extreme sports for white people; we want to change that perception," he said. "Here we have previously disadvantaged youth who have not been exposed to extreme sports - we are going to expose them to it."
Number 3 Square would have other major sports facilities, including a swimming pool, combi courts, a soccer field and cricket nets, Sweke added.
Masondo urged the community and non-governmental organisations to support the council in the various projects being carried out throughout Alexandra as part of the area's renewal programme. "We need to deepen our partnership with the Alexandra development forum."
His next stop was the Nelson Mandela Yard heritage project. The Nelson Mandela Yard is situated across from 46, 7th Avenue, where Mandela rented a room when he first came to Johannesburg as a young man.
The R6,5-million development, funded by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Alexandra Renewal Project is to be completed in time for Heritage Day on 24 September.
It is intended to be a place where residents and visitors can enjoy learning about the history and heritage of Alexandra. "This represents a living culture; Alexandra is a heritage which is alive," said project co-ordinator Zodwa Tlale.
From there it was on to the Alexandra Stadium, where Masondo interacted with school children from Alexandra High School, Minerva High School, Queens High School, Wendywood High School, Realogile High School, Kwa-Bhekilanga High School, East Bank High School, Sandringham High School and Marlboro High School.
The Realogile High School band entertained the guests and everyone, including the mayoral delegation, joined in the singing and dancing. School children asked the mayor and his team a range of questions about the upcoming local government elections.
Warning them about the dangers of drugs, he mayor said, "Drugs kill and they are really a problem to our society. We need to have an awareness campaign."
The last three stops for the day were hostels - the Helen Joseph Women's Hostel, M1 and M2, which are currently being redeveloped. The buildings's insides are being ripped out and construction teams are redesigning and rebuilding the former single sex high-rise blocks, created during the apartheid era to house many of Joburg's workers, into family units.
Residents handed over a list of grievances to Masondo, highlighting problems of overcrowding, a lack of privacy and the need for maintenance of the facilities.
"The redevelopment of these hostels has been identified as a priority project for the Alexandra Renewal Project," Masondo said. "Considerable work has already been undertaken and this project is able to proceed into the construction phase in the 2005/6 periods."
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