Grahamstown businesses have voiced mixed reactions to the newly-implemented vehicle parking system in the town.
Grahamstown businesses have voiced mixed reactions to the newly-implemented vehicle parking system in the town.
Most of them argue that they should have been consulted before the system was implemented. Pennypinchers owner, James Sholto-Douglas, said the new parking system was affecting his staff very badly.
“These guys are driving their own cars all the way from the location everyday and have to park here all day. I’m also parking my vehicle here.
“Another challenge is with the clients. You can’t say deliver quickly and leave. This sounds too expensive for me and I can tell you its going to be a problem.
“A lot of these parking spots are taken by staff members and now, all of a sudden, they have to pay huge money. We only heard about this on the story that was in Grocott’s Mail. We weren’t informed earlier,” said Sholto-Douglas.
He said it would be better if the money were going to the municipality to fix up roads. But the municipality is only getting five percent.
Sholto-Douglas pointed out that the people collecting parking money in the new scheme are not car guards. He said it was better when there were people guarding the cars, you knew your vehicle was safe and you would come back and pay them.
Owner of Delizzia restaurant in High Street, Stella Swanepoel, says she thinks that the new system could be a good thing if the funds received from the parking meters were to be used constructively for the city.
“Wherever you go in South Africa, you have to pay for parking, it’s a privilege. So I don’t see why people are so up in arms. They must utilise the money in a positive manner.
“It’s positive for job creation. Whether people pay or don’t pay the parking, it affects my business because people abuse the privilege. They park outside my restaurant for the whole day and do their shopping elsewhere,” said Swanepoel.
Phillip McDougall, owner of Madhatters coffee shop, also in High Street, said he doesn’t know whether it is affecting his business or not, but he has had customers complaining about it.
To him, it looks like the situation is deteriorating with things going back to how they were before and little enforcement of the system.
“It certainly looks neater with the uniforms and there are fewer loiterers around. We weren’t consulted before it was implemented, that’s what I don’t like,” said McDougall.
Spur operator, Alex Bran, said he thinks the system is actually helping the business, because there are no more car washes or people harassing the customers outside.
“It is more of a benefit than a curse. It is affecting the employees because they need to find alternative parking. They can’t afford to pay for parking outside daily. It is benefiting safety and general hygiene of the streets,” said Brand.
General Manager of Buco Eastern Cape, Marius Schmidt, labelled the new system as a disaster. He said that there was no consultation about when the system was going to be implemented.
He believes that each business should have been consulted and asked for their thoughts.
“There are certain staff members who are not earning that much and now have to pay maybe R800 a month.
“Customers are fighting and coming to us wanting to know why we have installed these parking bays. I told them that it’s not us who have done this.
“Now all our people are going to buy somewhere else, Port Alfred or Kenton On Sea,” said Schmidt.
He said that they won’t stand back and do nothing, but will fight the new system.
According to the Service Level Agreement between the municipality and the service provider, Hedraweb, the service provider will manage all informal car guarding and car washers in the CBD area on a 24 hour basis.
The agreement states that 95 percent of parking revenue will go to the service provider who will then pay five percent of all parking money collected to Makana Municipality for the duration of the contract.
Hedraweb will then pay the council its share of the collected amounts on a monthly basis, During the first year of the three year contract, drivers will pay R5 for an hour and R2.50 for 30 minutes. In the second year, hourly parking will be R5.50, R3 for 30 minutes and R1.50 for the first 10 minutes.
In the third year it will be R6 for 1 hour, R3 for 30 minutes and R2 for first ten minutes.
The agreement also states that payment for parking will be accepted in coins, notes, credit or debit and smart card.
Payment by phone will only be accepted once the user has registered with the control centre, and certain terms and conditions will apply.
Hedraweb will have exclusive use of the municipal parking lots, to accommodate monthly and long term parkers. The parties will mutually agree on the use of such parking lots and the payments to council for such use.
All municipal vehicles will be exempt from the payment of any parking fees during office hours.
In the event of the council or its service provider electing to collect any outstanding fees due to by means of civil debt collection methods the defaulting motorist shall be liable to pay an administrative fee to the council or the service provider.
