On October 1, Ward 118 held a public meeting at The Rusty Lady in Queen Street where City of Johannesburg officials were invited, together with business owners from the area.
The purpose of the meeting was to address issues that affect the businesses in the area and how the City can best assist in resolving concerns.
Different departments were invited to attend including the Joburg Road Agency (JRA), Pikitup, JMPD, Environmental Health and Cleveland SAPS.
Issues which were discussed at the meeting included illegal parking and dumping, noise and road markings.
Business owners expressed their concern about the lack of parking space on Queen Street.
“The JMPD can only do so much in terms of the parking. Sidewalk parking is not allowed and should be reported. When one reports sidewalk parking, they should always insist on a reference number to be able to track if the case has been attended to,” said JMPD Region F Sgt Marius Boolsen.
Hendrik van Tonder from JRA said they have conducted a driver behaviour analysis in the area.
“Driver behaviour is a major problem in this area. We were able to see how we can best assist this area in ensuring drivers adhere to the rules and it guided us on which signs need to be put up,” said van Tonder.
JRA also informed business owners that off-street parking is no longer allowed.
Pikitup and environmental health officials addressed restaurant waste.
“Businesses should note that restaurant waste forms part of special collections because the size of the waste is not the same as household. They need to apply for extra bins and inform Pikitup that they are a businesses,” said regional manager for Pikitup Norwood depot, Khumbuzile Cele.
The Department of Environmental Health reported that it often receives complaints about noise at restaurants.
“Every complaint needs a complainant because when we start investigating the case we need that person to provide evidence and information,” said Elna Grous.
The environmental department also stated that residents and businesses need to note there are differences between noise disturbance and noise nuisance.
Noise disturbance is the propagation of noise with harmful impact on another person and noise nuisance is a subjective measure because it’s based on how the individual feels about the noise.
Cleveland SAPS W/O Marx Cruise encouraged business owners to be more vigilant and encouraged them to warn customers about pickpocketing.
“Please let your customers know to look after their handbags and urge them to be aware,” said Cruise.
Report complaints to:
• JMPD sidewalk parking 011 375 5911.
• JMPD emergency number 011 758 9622
• Cleveland SAPS patrol van 071 675 6072/73/70.
