Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau promised that this year, the City of Joburg would take the Corridors of Freedom to Diepsloot.
“We can’t continue re-entrenching apartheid; we should build a city of the future. All communities should be able to access transport to the city or even stay in the city or the area of work.”
Tau visited the township on 18 February. His visit included site visits and a community meeting attended by mayoral committee members, along with 1 200 people who call Diepsloot home.
Diepsloot was formed in 1994 and the area’s population has grown from 50 000 in 2001 to 200 000 in 2011. Many residents travel daily to work in Sandton and Randburg and the city centre.
To accommodate these residents, the Johannesburg Development Agency built the Diepsloot minibus-taxi rank in 2012 as part of the Diepsloot Renewal Programme.
Now the Rea Vaya Phase 1C route will widen transport options, including improving pedestrian areas.
The new phase will be developed over the next five years and Diepsloot forms part of major routes taking commuters to the city centre, and as far as Midrand.
The Department of Transport, with Rea Vaya, will plan the construction and implementation of Rea Vaya BRT Phase 1C from Parktown to Alexandra, Alexandra to Sandton, and the city centre to Sunninghill.
The plans include extending the Phase 1C route from Sandton to Randburg by 2018 and possibly extending the trunk route from the Soweto Highway to Dobsonville, enabling feeders to service areas such as Braamfisherville.
The Rea Vaya Phase 1C service will require 69 articulated buses and 171 standard buses.
