Bridging the gap or causing a divide?
KYA SAND - The building of a pedestrian bridge in Kya Sand informal settlement has been proposed, but residents of the neighbouring suburb, Farmall, have their reservations.
The Kya Sand settlement lies on both sides of the Kya Sand Spruit, also called Northriding Stream. According to the background information document on the proposed bridge, the bridge was deemed necessary because the spruit floods during the rainy season.
Farmall resident, Gavin Tonks questioned the necessity of the bridge. “To spend R3 million for about five times in the year when the river floods is a question that requires debate,” he said. According to Tonks the issue is compounded by the fact that Farmall residents have been waiting for the road bridge at the bottom of River Road to be fixed after heavy rains in February destroyed the bridge. The River Road bridge is a link from Randburg and Fourways to Farmall.
Tonks claims that most of the informal settlement residents are illegal and feels that the council should not attend to their needs before attending to pressing issues in the area such as cleaning storm water infrastructure and upgrading the dirt roads in Farmall. Ward councillor for Ward 96, Matome Mafokwane said he had no objection to the proposed bridge.
“The investment the city is making is a temporary measure which will seek to solve the current problem of drowning during the rainy season,” he said.
Mafokwane mentioned that the Kya Sand informal settlement is actually scheduled for relocation to Lion Park township as soon as the township is complete.
“The pedestrian bridge is designed in such a way that at anytime it can be removed for use elsewhere,” he said.
With regard to Tonks’ allegations that most of the inhabitants of the informal settlement are illegal, Mafokwane said he could not comment as the Human Settlement Department had not released official statistics or records yet.
