While some Extension 9 residents rejoice after years of waiting for a busy road to be tarred, others have not been so happy about it because no locals have been employed to do the construction work.
While some Extension 9 residents rejoice after years of waiting for a busy road to be tarred, others have not been so happy about it because no locals have been employed to do the construction work.
Last week construction started on a buzzing taxi thoroughfare, Joza Street, that is expected to take six months to complete. When Grocott's Mail went to the construction site and spoke to nearby residents, there were mixed reactions to the area's newest development. One resident, Nosikhumbuzo Majiza said she is relieved that the municipality is finally giving them a tar road.
"We had problems before, because if you hang laundry up all the dust coming from the taxis running up and down here goes onto the clothes," she said. "The dust was even coming inside our houses and the wardrobes too".
Another resident, Nomhlaba Sam expressed similar sentiments to Majiza, but said that she hoped the new road would create job opportunities for the young people in Extension 9. "I hope that our kids will get employment, even though it will be temporary." She found it worrying that matriculants are sitting at home with matric certificates, but without jobs.
Keegan Gqasana, who lives near Joza Street, said the municipality should tar all the streets in Extension 9, instead of just giving the taxi route priority. "What about the other streets?" he said.
The Port Elizabeth-based construction company's site manager, Leon Slabbert said that before they began working on the road they met with the taxi organisations and members of the community to discuss some of their issues. Despite saying that they hadn't encountered any problems since construction began, Slabbert did briefly mention an incident on Wednesday that he refused to elaborate on.
Grocott's Mail then spoke to an anonymous source working at the construction company, Izana Civils, who said that on Wednesday residents from Ward 5 and Ward 6 came to the site offices, trying to intimidate construction staff and demand employment. "They said we cannot hire people from other wards and leave them out, because the project is in their own ward. We called the police and they were dispersed and given a warning not to do that again," the source revealed.
So far no local people have been employed, according to the source, and when Grocott's Mail attempted to ask the Makana Municipality spokesperson Thandi Matebese for comment he put down the phone in the reporter's ear.
