What happened in Joburg this week?

This week we take a look at who the City of Johannesburg’s new development planning head is, the Google SA and Joburg collaboration, and a bridge collapse in Weltevreden Park.

The bridge on the corner of 9th Avenue and JG Strydom Road collapsed in Weltevreden Park, where, again thankfully, no injuries were reported. The road, which is one of the sites that have been affected by the months-long F46 pipeline installation project, has now been closed to the public.

There is a great need in Joburg to improve building planning enforcement and decrease the turnaround time for building applications. And this is what the new Joburg executive director Amolemo Mothoagae said needs to be done to better the Development Planning Department. Mothoagae started as the department’s new head in May this year, returning to the City of Johannesburg after a decade of working as a strategic town planner.

Finally, the City’s Library and Information Services announced its collaboration with Google South Africa to provide free online training in digital and entrepreneurial skills programmes in 12 of its eLearning classrooms situated in libraries across the city. The courses are now available online at www.cojelearning.org.za