Vagrants, litter and drugs are the words best used to describe the state of the Benoni Plaza.
Ward 73 councillor Sinethemba Matiwane and the City Times conducted a site visit on January 22 where we saw vagrants sitting in large groups, smoking substances we were unable to identify.
It appears they have made the plaza home as clothes can be seen hanging on the walls and mattresses are placed anywhere they can find a spot.
Elaine Erasmus, director of the Zinikele Association, based in the Benoni Plaza, is responsible for all the kiosks erected there.
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“Vagrants have been making it hard for us to sustain the kiosks,” she said.
“They are always trying to break into the kiosks to steal, which causes damage to the property.
“Tenants have been struggling to pay rent because there are no customers to sell their goods to because of the vagrants and the litter.”
During our visit we witnessed an employee at one of the shops dump a dilapidated mattress frame on the ground and walk off.
Matiwane asked the man to pick it up but was simply ignored.
There are piles of rubbish around every corner, bins are filled to the brim with dirty diapers, empty medicine bottles, leftover food and the stench of urine is overbearing.
Erasmus said the last time she saw Ekurhuleni metro workers cleaning up around the plaza was in November.
“My tenants and I clean as far as possible, but it is not our responsibility to clean the entire plaza, particularly as you can see what state things are actually in,” she said.
Nelly Xaba, the owner of a gazebo at the plaza, said she has been running her business for 11 years at the plaza.
“I have always been responsible for cleaning the spot where I placed my gazebo.
“I moved to a kiosk because I was tired of paying people to clean for me.
“People would even relieve themselves at my spot because there are no toilets here,” she said.
Xaba is pleading with the metro to remove the vagrants because their presence is affecting the livelihood of those operating businesses in the plaza.
“These vagrants grab our customers’ bags and groceries and even inject themselves with drugs in front of us.
“They are free to do what they please and it is getting too much,” she said.
Matiwane said the metro has an adjustment budget in place – funds set aside for the plaza.
“However, a contractor has not been appointed so plans to demolish the buildings within the plaza have been put on hold,” he said.
“Once a contractor has been appointed, we will be able to move forward with the plans for this area.”
In February 2017, the metro’s city planning department and representatives from Iyer Planning Urban Design Architecture shared their plans with the public for an Urban Design Precinct which would change the Benoni CBD and its surrounds.
This precinct is part of a 25-year plan the metro intends on implementing and areas like the Benoni Plaza, the Customer Care Centre, municipal offices and the taxi rank in Voortrekker Street have been prioritised in phase one, which is set to start this year.
Phase one will be done in the first five years of the 25-year plan, the metro said.
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