Region F’s Citizen Relationship and Urban Management (CRUM) directorate convened an area-based management workshop on Monday 24, April to moot out solutions for tackling major concerns facing the Johannesburg Inner-City. The workshop held in collaboration with multi-stakeholders from across Johannesburg was part of a service delivery mandate to improve the quality of life for ratepayers in the Inner-City.
The workshop discussed service delivery shortfalls in the urban administration of the Inner-City, including urban decay, violent crime, waste management, bylaw infringements, and vagrancy.
The meeting was also designed to moot out strategies to provide a resilient, liveable, and sustainable urban environment by implementing area-based management, urban management, crime management, and by-law enforcement.
The Central Business District (CBD), including Park Station, the Bree Street Taxi Rank, the Noord Taxi Terminus, Carlton Centre, and Braamfontein, was listed among core areas plagued by crime and urban decay, including vandalism of public infrastructure, petty crime (with a high rate of stolen phones and jewellery), hijackings, and kidnappings. This is where area-based management plans will be implemented.
Earl Stoles, the deputy director of planning, profiling, and data (CRUM Region F), highlighted some of the major urban decay indicators in the Inner-City, including illegal electrical connections, unauthorised water connections, illegal dumping, abandoned and invaded buildings, and open spaces.
“We have identified the Inner-City (CBD) as being the core of major problematic challenges, where we will be implementing area-based management plans. We examined the important concerns from the perspectives of urban administration, service delivery, and public safety to contribute to Inner-City regeneration and prioritised nodes,” said Stoles.
He added that public transportation was a major concern, especially in minibus taxis, with ranks congested with nearly 1.8 to 2 million pedestrians daily, crammed in just over 30 000 taxis.
”The taxi ranks allow crime such as theft to easily take place because of the obstruction that takes place there,” Stoles said.
He said traffic congestion in taxi ranks led to excessive littering and the burning and destruction of buildings, making pockets of the Inner-City unhygienic and unsafe.
“People do not use disposable bins for rubbish; they rather dump it anywhere. Such behaviour provides easy access for people to have escape routes and hiding spots in and around taxi ranks, which increases the risk of stealing or being harmful to other people,” he explained.
As part of workshop deliberations, Stoles said the municipality would initiate smart city strategies to promote the coordination of resources with community structures and the private sector to deal with challenges hounding the Inner-City.
“Our strategy will be effective in collaboration with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and the South African Police Services (SAPS). There is a three-dimensional crime dynamic model, namely the offender, vulnerable action, and the environment that we focus on to make better decisions around crime,” Stoles said.
Irene Mafune, the Regional Director (CRUM Region F), said there have been developments in key flagship precincts where the Inner-City implementation charter began.
“Our intention is to review and reflect on major changes we’ve put into action and establish structured-based solutions for better living conditions and safety for our ratepayers,” Mafune said.