Progress gives Ivory Park vigour

Work is forging ahead on formalising Ivory Park. Roads are being built, lighting is being installed and houses are going up.

It's mid-morning on a weekday and Freedom Drive, the main street in Ivory Park, is busy. The hooting of taxis and the shouts of men working on the side of the road fills the air, creating a sense that the township is one massive construction site.

At the corner of Freedom Drive and June 16 Road, a group of men and women is working on huge inspection holes that lead down to massive drainage pipes, big enough for a grown man to easily navigate, walking upright. The concrete surface of June 16 Road is still wet and Agnes Modise, an overseer construction worker, says the road will be finished by the end of the month.

"This road used to be a problem for motorists and pedestrians alike during the rainy season. It was destroyed two years ago when heavy rains fell and became impassable for motor vehicles," says Modise, waving a red flag to slow down traffic at the intersection.

June 16 Road leads down to a damaged bridge linking Ivory Park and the township of Tembisa. The bridge was destroyed in early 2006, when a flooded Kaalfontein River, which separates Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, destroyed the concrete embankment joining the two metros. A woman and her child were swept away during the floods.

The construction of the road is one of a number of projects taking place in Ivory Park, a township in Johannesburg's northwest. Petros Zitha, the councillor for Ward 79 in Ivory Park, says the shape of the township is changing, thanks to its residents, who have come together to develop their suburb.

"For a long time Ivory Park did not attract much development and the present trend has given residents impetus to come forward and participate in some of the projects in the township."

Jobs for residents
There are 34 local residents employed in road construction in Ivory Park and more people will be employed as more projects come up. Construction of June 16 Road and storm water drains has set back the city R7,4m, according to Zitha.

"Almost all roads in Ivory Park are now tarred. Only four streets remain," he says. His hope is to see June 16 Road linking up Kempton Park, Tembisa, Ivory Park, Ebony Park and Midrand, and he hopes to see Ekurhuleni playing its part in rebuilding the bridge as soon as possible.

"The bridge is on Ekurhuleni's side but the city and the province have chipped in to help develop the road. My hope is that the road will form part of the city's Rapid Bus Transit (BRT) system. After it's finished, the road will be beautified and lined with trees. I would love to see Ivory Park being a tourist destination for visitors, come 2010."

Huge growth
Established in 1990 by the erstwhile Transvaal Provincial Administration (TPA), Ivory Park has grown tremendously from a few shacks erected on a farm by invaders to a township populated by over 45 000 people. Residents are a medley of local people and foreigners.

Most of the houses on the township's 17,000 stands are shacks made from any material one can think of - wood, plastic, iron sheets and cardboard boxes. Things began to take a turn for the better when the City of Johannesburg began formalising the settlement. This involved regularising stands, building proper roads, and installing running water and sewer systems.

"Because town planning took place when people were already settled, installing bulk infrastructure presented a problem and there were incidents of burst sewer and water pipes because of overloaded infrastructure."

In 2005, the city drew up a plan to improve living conditions and service delivery in the township. The plan, because of overcrowding and lack of land, looked at different housing typologies such as blocks of flats.

Johannesburg is busy building Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses for people in Ward 79. One house is already complete and the beneficiary, Grace Khoza, has moved into her new two-bedroom house. "Like many of the residents in Ivory Park, Khoza has been living in a shack for the past 10 years and she is one of the first beneficiaries to qualify for an RDP house in the township."

A few houses away from Khoza's house, another RDP house is at slab level; the slab is embedded between four or five shacks. Zitha explains that the owner of the stand is living with his extended family and people who rent space on the stand, "a situation which is not unusual in Ivory Park".

"People were sceptical about the RDP houses at first. When we told them to destroy their shacks they couldn't believe us but as one can see, the city is beginning to deliver. After we have built them RDP houses, we won't allow people to put up shacks in front of the house. We have warned them that if they do so we won't give them title deeds to their houses."

Some residents have been able to develop their stands themselves and build beautiful houses such as one can see in more affluent suburbs in the city. Zitha says the city is encouraging such people to build their own houses because not everyone qualifies for RDP houses.

In-migration
One thorny issue in Ivory Park, however, is in-migration, which has led to sprouting informal settlements. Zitha says he has identified 52 informal settlements in Ivory Park alone, which has put a strain on service delivery.

"Despite these teething problems, the township has not experienced any service delivery riots. People see that we are trying our best to deliver and we hope - budgets allowing - that all residents will have adequate housing, electricity and running water in a few years to come."

On 30 June this year, Ward 79 organised a march to the municipal offices at Lord Khanyile Multi-Purpose Community Centre to encourage residents to pay for municipal services. Over 900 people participated and R12,700 was collected on that single day. "The march was peaceful and highlighted the need to pay for council services. People were very willing to participate and they showed their enthusiasm by coming in large numbers to support the march."

In November 2006, executive mayor Amos Masondo visited Ivory Park and announced the naming and lighting of 1,126 streets. The project to name streets was completed in five months at a cost of R480k. During the 2004-05 financial year City Power installed 105 street light poles at a cost of R787,500 and during the 2005-06 financial year it installed over 270 street light poles at a cost of R3,5m.

At present, City Power is installing 560 street light poles at a cost of R6,2m, work which is expected to be completed before the end of the 2006-07 financial year.

Jobless youth
The installation of streetlights has helped bring down crime but Zitha is specifically concerned about the number of unemployed youth who spend the day lounging around with nothing to do. He says this is a recipe for disaster.

"Unemployment stands at 40% in the township and this situation will lead to youths turning to crime to survive."

This is reiterated by Eddie Maluleke, a Ward 79 youths member. He says that in an effort to help young residents to find employment and to set up income-generating projects, Ward 79 organised a Youth Expo on 14 July at the Emthonjeni taxi rank. He says the expo was a success, with 220 youngsters attending.

"We distributed Vukuzenzele material that informed youths about services offered by the city. There was also an HIV/Aids desk that was manned by an NGO that targeted youths," says Maluleke.

Zitha bemoaned the plethora of taverns that are sprouting up in the township, a development which he says he has no power to curb. He puts the blame squarely on the willy-nilly nature of awarding liquor licences to taverns.

In almost every street there is a tavern, where youngsters spend most of their time. This negatively affects the socio-economic progress of Ivory Park, according to Zitha.

Most people in the township depend on informal trading to survive and Zitha lamented the growing number of child-headed families. He points out a stand where about six nondescript shacks of different sizes and shape are huddled together. "The stand belongs to three children, the eldest being about 18 years old. They have no means of income and they survive by renting out shacks to people."

Multi-purpose centre
However, the opening of the Lord Khanyile Multi-Purpose Community Centre, a one-stop service hub housing local, provincial and national government offices, in 2006, has brought some relief to such families.

"I have been able to help members of such families get identity documents and social grants from the government. Some families have no income to pay for council services and it is our duty to help these families get municipal services subsidies."

Zitha has plans to further develop Ivory Park. He says he wants the suburb to have a public swimming pool, a big stadium where PSL games can be played and all informal settlements eradicated. This will need money, however, and he hopes to push for a large slice of the council budget to go towards service delivery projects.

"We still have a long way to go and development cannot take place in a single day, but my mission is to see all residents continuing to enjoy and paying willingly for services provided by the city," he says. - Ndaba Dlamini

Article courtesy of City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za).

Readers' Comments
Have a comment or question about this article? Tell us about it..

Get up-to-date property news
Would you like to receive free weekly news and information about property in South Africa? Click here to sign up for Property24's Week in Review.

Property News
Click here for more property news articles.