A footbridge which has been seen as a thoroughfare for criminals in Zeekoevlei will be removed, at the cost of residents.
Residents signed a petition and asked the City to remove the bridge citing safety concerns, with the latest crime a murder which took place two months ago.
In a community meeting on Wednesday 23 March Shireen August, newly elected PR councillor, said the City has given permission for the footbridge to be removed.
“In October during the election period the community asked me to come and assist them with removal of the bridge. When I became a councillor I took up the issue again. I sent it through to all the departments, got all the relevant role-players on board and we received a response to say that we can actually go ahead with the removal.”
However, she added before the bridge can be removed a 30-day period of public participation has to take place.
“Tonight’s public meeting is to inform the community that we have the right from the department to remove the footbridge and the next process is to go into public participation.
“The City said it is not going to take ownership of removing the bridge but they are also not going to stop the community from removing it. So, they (the community) are liable to remove it themselves.”
August says historically the bridge was used as a footbridge for the community, but as time went on a lot of criminal activity occurred.
“Things became worse and gangsters were going over the bridge, people were dying on the bridge and so it has actually become a hazard to the community.”
Resident Rustum Mally, who lives a house away from the bridge, says the bridge started off as a wooden bridge more than 20 years ago.
“Then they upgraded it later on, but those years there wasn’t that much traffic and it was a farming area. It started becoming an issue with one gang on the one side and running through here. The bridge started being a hazard first with children coming to swim here, using it as a diving board.”
He added that crime seriously escalated within the past two years.
“It is the third or fourth year that the bridge has been a problem. But it has increased in the last two years. Two months ago, a guy was shot and killed on that bridge and when the gangs fight, they run down this road to get over to the other side. So, from a safety point of view it became an issue.”
Terence Davidson, a resident in the area for more than 10 years, says the footbridge has become a target place to rob people.
“It’s a target space for killing and robbing. There’s a lot of crime and activity that has been happening over here. If we can get it closed off it can reduce crime, we are quite happy having it removed.”
He added that people have been robbed at the footbridge, it is being used for drug dealing and a murder has occurred.
“The most recent incident that happened here was a murder; we are not police officers so we can only speculate, but common consensus is that it was gang-related. Initially I’m sure it was constructed with pedestrian-positive plans, but what subsequently happened is that it developed into a space where we have people who sleep under the bridge.
“You have a lot of drug dealing that happens over here, it’s a gathering point for gang elements, so there are a lot of issues we have in terms of the access it provides. People have been robbed of their cellphones and money and in the past it was a space where the scholars could also move through, so it’s an access for residents, but it’s now become a target space.”
He added that communities need to stand together to make their space a safer place.
“Communities need to stand together and come together, to work together to get projects done. We are already paying rates, now we are doing neighbourhood watching and we are doing infrastructure demolishing as well because the City is not coming to the fore. Where is their compliance in terms of what their mandate is as well as in terms of the responsibility they have towards residents?”
