September 18, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
ON a visit to Soweto, Johannesburg's executive mayor, Amos Masondo, marveled at the rising malls, housing developments and industrial areas, but also expressed concern with houses built near railway lines or on flood lines.
The visit was part of the regular road shows undertaken by City councillors and officials to inspect projects underway and assess community needs.
Soweto is one of the key areas of focus for the City in its quest to overcome historical backlogs.
The mayor, accompanied by senior officials, toured industrial areas in Orlando, Jabavu and Dobsonville. He also inspected burgeoning business areas, including Orlando Ekhaya, as well as sections demarcated for housing upgrades.
Speaking about Region D (Soweto), Masondo said the township needed "to be normalised, functioning like other settlements, with malls and places of leisure".
Executive mayor Amos Masondo and City officials inspect the new mall in Jabulani
(Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
Plans to ensure this happens include projects outlined in the Integrated Development Plan and the Soweto Retail Strategy.
Soweto, a product of planned segregationist planning, was created to house mainly black labourers, who worked in mines and other industries, while suburbs closer to places of work were reserved for white occupation.
However, much is changing in Soweto, with upmarket housing nestling close to informal settlements, and large retail malls sprouting up alongside small taxi rank markets.
"The [redevelopment] aims to focus our resources on the poorest of the poor," said Masondo, emphasising the need to tackle poverty and create jobs.
The success of Soweto lies in all the City's departments working together along with members of the community, Masondo added.
Housing
On the Thursday, 14 September road show, the mayoral team stopped at New Canada Road, between Noordgesig and Main Reef roads, where a housing development is taking shape.
The New Canada housing development will see 2 800 units erected, made up of 1 086 double-storey and 1 714 single-storey houses. Each unit will be rented or residents will be able to apply for full ownership.
The project will have three crèches, one school, one garage and one business.
Challenges include people who do not qualify to apply for the units, and the funding agreement still has to be approved by the province's department of housing.
However, the mayoral committee member for housing, Strike Ralegoma, assured the delegation that developments would be in full swing by January. "We are looking forward to that."
Business developments
At the Orlando Industrial Park, shop owner Elizabeth Ndaba enthusiastically explained her situation to the mayor.
Tenants at the business park, on council land, have been paying rent to the landlords, who did not maintain the property.
Ndaba asked the mayor to intervene and help sort out the problem. "We are glad that you have visited us," she told Masondo, who promised to follow up the issue.
Another business development planned for Soweto is an industrial park along the Old Potchefstroom Road in Protea South.
Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), managing director Gugu Mazibuko said: "The park will provide a boutique of businesses with centralised support that includes accounting and marketing. It will offer better opportunities in Soweto."
Mazibuko urged business owners to grab the opportunity of becoming part of the City initiative. "We are hoping greater things will happen for Soweto business owners," Masondo added.
A key development in Soweto is the R1-billion Orlando Ekhaya, which got under way in July.
The project, which includes housing, shopping and entertainment facilities, aims to ''to change the face'' of Soweto.
Seven hundred housing units, and lakeside flats, a first for the township, will be built. The precinct will cover 300 hectares.
Soweto's famous landmarks - the Orlando Power Station building and cooling towers - will be turned into a retail and entertainment centre.
According to Mazibuko, the towers will be used for the highest bungee-jumping facility in the world.
"It's going to be an exciting initiative, it will create [more] investment in Soweto".
In all, 90 000m² of land will be developed, including the Orlando Power Station, the Orlando Dam and the Sontonga Koppie on the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus.
Parks
In terms of entertainment facilities, the City has managed to build a number of parks that include the Thokoza and Dorothy Nyembe parks, amongst others.
The R20-million Thokoza Park draws up to 10 000 visitors a weekend, according to Johannesburg City Parks' senior stakeholder liaison manager Oscar Oliphant.
The mayor and his team also visited the conservation centre at the Dorothy Nyembe Park.
During a stop in George Goch, near Dube, structural problems were noticed with houses built close to the railway line in the 1960s.
The foundations on many houses in the area have become unstable and occupants face the risk of the houses collapsing. At one house in Masego Street, the wall was shaky and full of cracks. A concerned mayor and his team promised to follow up this with the homeowner.
While the mayor was generally pleased with progress in Soweto, he said that more still needed to be done.
"There must be something that we can be proud of after the World Cup," he said.
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