Come September, southern suburbs residents may, at last, see an end to their subway woes, fingers crossed.
The complaints around the maintenance and upkeep of the approximately 42 subways scattered along the southern suburbs railway line from Mowbray to Simon’s Town have been piling up for years. Flooding, unkempt premises, the danger of muggings, poor and faulty lighting conditions, and the occupation of the subways by street people – even more so during the Covid-19 lockdown – are but some of the issues which intermittently rear their head.
While the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is responsible for subways that give access to Prasa railway stations and Prasa-owned properties, the City of Cape Town is responsible for maintenance and renewal of street-to-street subways.
In a Facebook post in May, Mikhail Manuel, councillor for Ward 59 and the chair of the City of Cape Town’s Transport Portfolio Committee, shared that plans were in the pipeline to open the closed subways in Erin Park “soon”.
“We managed to pull enough stakeholders together who will be able to implement a stable solution there. It gives me great joy that we will be able to open up that link again in what is a broader NMT (Non-motorised transport) network to really help learners at Rondebosch Boys’ Prep School, at Bishops Prep and at Rondebosch Boys’ High school,” Manuel said.
While most of the street-to-street subways are open, some were locked or welded shut on various dates during the lockdown in response to residents’ complaints. An example of such is a law enforcement operation held at the subway next to College Road in Rondebosch on Thursday 13 January.
At the time, law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said the operation was done in response to residents’ complaints.
“There were safety issues. The subway was welded shut a while ago due to safety issues, for example, fires in the subway and theft of electricity infrastructure,” Dyason said.
Last week Manuel, confirmed that, if all went according to plan, all of the locked subways would be open by September. Subways that have been identified as hotspots would also receive attention. Together, these include Erin Road Subways, Bishops Subway, Eureka Road Subway, Belmont Road Subway, Silwood Subway, Liesbeek West Road Subway and Alma Subway.
“The (City) officials have done an assessment on what needs to do be done – gates, re-tarring surfaces, painting the walls. Once 1 July hits, we have budgets allocated to restore subways. We will need to figure out the timeline for getting that work done. We are hopeful for September,” said Manuel.
He explained that although the closed subways could have been opened sooner, the decision had been taken to only move on it when a complete solution was in place.
“The missing link was a security element. If we just opened them, it would have made them more difficult to manage. As the City, we can do everything, but we can’t provide security.”
According to Manuel, a meeting was held on Thursday 19 May which brought all the stakeholders – both private and public – together. Besides the various City departments (Parks and Recreation, Road Works, Solid Waste, Electricity, Water and Sanitation), a group of residents, as well as Bishop’s College security.
He said there was a great willingness among residents, the local church and local businesses to come together and put money towards having a vehicle stationed at these subways during the times they open and close.
A security provider also came onboard.
“We have had all of these residents coming together, because we all want them to be open. It is a good example of community partnership,” says Manuel.
He said community involvement was also needed to help address another huge problem associated with subways – flooding.
“The reason why they flood is that the pumps get vandalised regularly. We replace it and within a couple of weeks they are stolen again. The subways are underground. Water wants to fill the space,” he said.
Manuel said it all came down to better coordination.
“On the one hand, we need residents to log C3s (online service request) the moment subways are flooded. They can also contact me, particularly about subways. On the other, we need for the different City departments to just coordinate a bit better,” he said.
