City of Joburg plans Braamfontein facelift

Eric Naki

A new plan to improve service delivery in Johannesburg is being mulled over by city officials and various stakeholders, including the private sector.

In an interview yesterday with The Citizen, member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for development planning, Funzela Ngobeni, said one of the ways to enhance service delivery involved a plan to introduce a third shift for refuse removal by Pikitup – a waste management service provider.

This was in a bid to keep the city clean around the clock.

He said asking former workers of the disbanded Jozi@Work project to work with Pikitup to clean the city streets at night was under consideration.

This would also extend to the deployment of additional peace officers to bulk up residents’ safety and security.

Ngobeni said Braamfontein was targeted for future development, especially in terms of the fight against crime.

The MMC held a workshop with the Braamfontein regeneration and innovation steering committee on Friday, where the future of the area was discussed.

The precinct was important as it was where the University of the Witwatersrand, student accommodation, insurance companies, National School of Arts, arts theatres and most civil society organisations and various municipal offices were situated.

Ngobeni said the move was to make the area attractive for future investment.

Braamfontein was regarded a key inner city node to be prioritised to strengthen the pedestrian link between the Metro Centre and Park Station, and increase investments in the Metro Centre precinct. The Braamfontein traffic and transportation study being undertaken was envisaged to provide evidence for determining the impact of key interventions.

Ngobeni said many Braamfontein stakeholders had been complaining about the safety and security of the area and wanted an improvement of the city’s urban management.

Other plans were to enhance the area’s greenery and ensure it was kept clean.

“Our core and major vision in driving these projects is to ensure that this city is clean and safe all the time,” Ngobeni said.