Joburg in ruins, no will to fix it

THE daily commute from Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, which used to be associated with (white) wealth and privilege, into the Rosebank area, used to be, notwithstanding the heavy traffic, a pleasant drive during which one could gather one’s thoughts and contemplate the day, and listen to music or the news.

Today, the drive is one of unadulterated misery and commiserations on the decline of a once-attractive area of the city. The traffic is lighter than in decades past, as I suppose more people are working from home. Maybe more people are not working. Travel time is much longer because there are always traffic lights that are broken or just not working due to the Eskom debacle.

Thank the pope for the homeless volunteers who direct traffic at the major intersections (Republic and William Nicol, for example) and are grateful for the odd R10 or R20 tip.

Metro cops are a waste of taxpayers’ money, bent on collecting money (or bribes) only to feed their bellies; there is no sense of duty or professional responsibility.

The roads are in a shocking condition, with potholes galore and filled potholes, which are humps in the road and almost as dangerous as the holes.

Litter is everywhere and verges are full, covered in dirt, leaves, grass, trees and other waste, so reading a street name on the curb is a thing of the past.

There are large garbage recycling “storage facilities” along the route, which are a public health hazard, a rodent haven, a wound on the landscape. Surely there is a better way to organise the thousands of garbage recycling operators to sort the reusable from the real garbage in some centralised and healthier location?

Road signage is broken and never repaired. Fortunately, there are more and more advertising posters and banners, so we at least can have a little pleasure and mental masturbation!

Stormwater drains are full of litter and garbage, so when it rains, roads are rivers. The one outside my place of work on Jan Smuts Avenue has been excavated and left as an open crater for three years. I think the people living in the hole have their own postal code.

Johannesburg is in a state of collapse, and the ANC politicians and their sycophant acolytes are more intent on votes of no confidence in the DA mayor than fixing the broken city, which is largely due to the history of incompetent ANC government in the past, in this once shiny Egoli city. We are not world-class anything anymore. We are a dirty, broken city.

Cry, the beloved city.

DR PETER C BAKER |