19 June, 2003 Press Release BERTHA STREET, BRAAMFONTEIN TO CLOSE FOR THE WEEK-END Bertha Street in BRAAMFONTEIN will be closed from Friday 20th at 19h00 and will reopen Sunday 22nd at midnight. The closure has been necessitated by essential street cross over upgrades as part of the Braamfontein Regeneration Project of the Johannesburg Development Agency. The road closure has been sanctioned by both the Johannesburg Roads Agency and Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department. Bertha Street will close from Ameshof to Smit Streets. Alternative routes into BRAAMFONTEIN will remain open. Road users are encouraged to use Melle and Joubert Street Extension for entrance into the centre of BRAAMFONTEIN, and the west can be accessed using Station Road. "The main objective of the project is to upgrade, regenerate and consolidate development within the area and reinforce and stimulate investment opportunities within the different precincts", commented Tshepo Nkosi, spokesman for the JDA. "The project proposes the upgrading of sidewalks, improvement of general amenities for the pedestrians, the greening of the area, improvement on the location ad distribution of on street parking and the creation of a new Gateway space that can act as a catalyst for the integration of Wits University to Braamfontein" said Nkosi. This project forms part of the rejuvenation in and around Braamfontein, amounting to almost R1 billion, which is leveraged involving the Executive Mayor, the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), as well as other property owners in Braamfontein such as Liberty Life, Apex Hi, JD Group, Gensec, SAB Miller and Wits University. Liberty Life, the largest property owner in Braamfontein, will coordinate corporate activity through a Section 21 Company ? the Braamfontein Business Improvement District (BID)? to which all ratepayers will contribute. The efforts of the BID will include urban redesign and greening of streets; improved lighting and signage; dedicated cleaning and security; installing a CCTV network; improving the public space and environment for residents, office workers, tourists and other members of the public. The street upgrade of this magnitude will inevitably lead to some inconvenience for road users and residents of Braamfontein. Motorist are urged to exercise patience and plan ahead. End. FOR THE EDITOR: Braamfontein is situated north of the city centre, with over 428 000 sq metres of A and B grade office space; it is the fourth largest node for office space in the city of Johannesburg. It is the home of four South African based multinationals and South Africa's premier educational institution ? University of Witwatersrand and other tertiary educational institutions. Forming the link between Newtown and Constitution Hill, the Braamfontein Regeneration Project will develop the area as the centre of knowledge economy of the smart province, a place where a multiplicity of economies and ways of being in the city come together. Braamfontein is also home of the local government and Johannesburg's premier theatre, the Civic Theatre. The vision of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is to be a world class, area based, development agency for the City of Johannesburg, constantly striving towards developing best practice in its projects and operations. As an agency of the City of Johannesburg, the JDA stimulates and supports area-based economic development initiatives throughout the Johannesburg metropolitan area, in support of Joburg 2030. As development manager of these initiatives, the JDA coordinates and manages capital investment and other programmes involving both public and private sector stakeholders. Other developments managed by the JDA include; Newtown, Faraday, Braamfontein, Constitution Hill, Jeppestown and Kliptown. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Tshepo Nkosi Executive:Marketing and Communications Johannesburg Development Agency Tel. 011 688 7856 Mobile. 083 368 4412 Email nkosit@jda.org.za