Neil Fraser
November 29, 2004
OVER the past three weeks we've reviewed progress in the northern, western and central sections of the inner city, now for the East, or part of it. The inner city east of End Street is a massive area, predominantly old residential.
Its northern belt comprises Berea, Yeoville, Bellevue and Bellevue East and was generally dealt with in Citichat 41/2004. South of that area are Doornfontein, New Doornfontein, Highlands, Bertrams, Lorentzville and Judiths Paarl. Troyeville, Fairview and Jeppestown and then the industrial belt north of the M2 including Droste Park and Benrose.
During the past few years some limited regeneration work has taken place in Jeppestown otherwise this area appears to have received little attention. But it is the future of a large section, the area known as Greater Ellis Park, that should be of particular interest to us. Before digging into Greater Ellis Park, some comments on a few other highlights of the area.
Ponte
On the north-western edge of the area we are looking at is the 54 storey apartment block known as Ponte. A building that dominates the city's skyline, Ponte was completed in 1976 and had originally been designed as an hotel but converted into flats before the project was completed.
During the 90s it became a living example of urban degeneration stories of high criminal activity including murders, refuse hurled into its central well and all kinds of social ills abounded. At the end of the 90s a serious attempt was made by the owners to have the building re-developed as an inner city jail, for me this was about the lowest point that the degeneration cycle reached.
I had nightmares of the then giant Coca Cola sign on top of the building being replaced with machine-gun pillboxes and tear gas being thrown down the central well to curb riots in the cells! Only kidding, but can you just imagine how the international press would have reported on our high rise inner city jail!
The story has a good ending. The Trafalgar Group took on the management of the building in 2000 and provided a great example again of what good management can do in the worst possible circumstances.
They disarmed the security staff, removed the bullet proof glass from the reception area and put in good access control systems, an on-site rental payment facility and on-site manager. They spruced the building up and created a family environment. Today it is one of the success stories of inner city residential.
Jewel City
Still staying on the western edge of this week's area, I first reported on Jewel City in 2000.
Jewel City covers six city blocks bordered by Commissioner Street, the M2 Heidelberg Road on-ramp, Main Street and the M2 Siemert Street on-ramp. It lies south of Doornfontein and is in a fairly run-down area mostly related to the motor industry, panel beating, radiator repairs, workshops, etc.
So the activities within Jewel City's high tech security perimeter will come as something of a surprise to those who didn't know of its existence. It houses numerous gem businesses employing approximately 1500 skilled cutters, three diamond exporter/forwarding businesses as well as:
- The Diamond Board - the regulatory arm for the industry largely self-funding through licences and levies
- A Diamond Bourse. This is a certified clearing house/market place for all diamonds and is one of only four established Bourses in SA (the others are all in Kimberley).
- The Harry Oppenheimer Training School. About 45 students in gem cutting etc can be accommodated at a time.
- Various diamond associations. E.g. Diamond Merchants Association, Rough Diamond Master Cutters Association, IDASA, and Jewellery Council.
There is an auditorium that shows videos on the industry and tours are offered to the various jewellery and jewel crafts showrooms where purchases can be made.
Plans are well advanced for upgrading the area further and we should see action in the New Year.
Jeppestown
The Jeppe Station Square project is located in Jeppestown, east of the City Centre, between McIntyre, Gus, Commissioner and Main Streets. John Page Drive slashes diagonally across the precinct.
The redevelopment project, completed at the beginning of this year at a cost of R8 million, was designed to create an integrated transport facility and informal traders market around the refurbished Jeppestown Station.
Whilst one would have hoped that the project would have acted as a ripple pond or catalyst for further investment and development in Jeppestown, quite frankly, the general state of the area mitigates against this.
Council needs to take a serious look at Jeppestown where waste management and urban management are generally seriously lacking and slum lording is rife. Many of the buildings were built for industrial use but today are illegally squatted in and the planning authorities should be looking at changing the zoning to recognise the need for controlled low-income housing.
Greater Ellis Park
Greater Ellis Park comprises Doornfontein, New Doornfontein, Bertrams, Lorentzville and Judiths Paarl. It has a unique topography that covers an area of 267 hectares and comprises a diversity of uses from sport to residential and education, industrial and manufacturing
Current interest in the area is due to its importance as one of the major sites for the 2010 World Soccer Cup. But irrespective of 2010, an examination of the area reveals that it is a node that has a number of major positive factors that the city should be capitalising on.
It is incredibly well positioned relative to the center city area as well as to the airport, major retail such as at Eastgate and Bruma Lake, has great accessibility to the whole metro area and beyond through its connections to local, regional and national road networks and is generally well served by rail, bus and combi-taxi services.
It has world class sports facilities, rugby and soccer, athletics, tennis, swimming, etc and some major education institutions with their facilities including one of the campuses of the Wits Technikon (soon to be incorporated into the Johannesburg University) and the Technical College. It has a significant historical background and houses many heritage treasures.
On the negative side it is generally a run down, decaying and badly managed area of the city with a high degree of overcrowding, slumlording and illegal uses of buildings. Has a high immigrant population (in itself, this is not a negative, but the fact is that a high percentage of these are illegal). It has a high crime rate and is a centre for drug sales and associated ills.
Any initiative aimed at the regeneration of the area in order for it to provide positive support for 2010 will have to be launched with great sensitivity. Why? Well, dealing with ailing infrastructure is one thing as is making sure that the sports facilities are all at world class standard. But, the area has a residential population of about 17 000 with an average monthly household income below R4500-00 and the housing stock is generally in poor condition.
In some areas that is a huge understatement! In addition it is also an area of rich, rich history in the growth and development of the city. The difficult issues of balancing regeneration with heritage preservation and redevelopment with gentrification offer a huge challenge, but an exciting one.
I had an opportunity to learn more about the historic and heritage value of part of the area this past Sunday on a walking tour of Doornfontein led by Shirley Zar. With her intense knowledge of the area she brought alive the streets and buildings and people of the area, but more about that some other time.
From the point of view of this past year, this eastern sector of the inner city has not attracted any TLC. From the perspective of the future, and the relatively short future given that 2010 is only 61 months off, it is a critical area.
