Ramaphosa’s ‘smart city’ at Lanseria gets a thumbs-up

Lanseria, northwest of Johannesburg, is about to take off, with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan for a new “smart city”.

It will be, in Ramaphosa’s words, a “truly post-apartheid city that would rise to change the social and economic apartheid spatial architecture”.

In his State of the Nation address last month, the president promised “it will not only be smart and 5G-ready, but we will be a leading benchmark for green infrastructure continentally and internationally”.

People working and living there are excited about the promised boom, although some are waiting to see whether the government implements the actions to follow Ramaphosa’s promises.

A view of the area around Lanseria Airport, 27 February 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

Lanseria already has a major leg up on becoming a place which could house 300,000 to 500,000 people in the next decade. Its fast-growing and modern international airport will probably form the nucleus of the “smart city”.

Lanseria Airport’s chief executive Rampa Rammopo is thrilled about the announcement. He said the airport had been part of the planning process since it began its own major redevelopment in 2009 and that they were working with the City of Joburg, provincial and national government.

The arrivals hall at Lanseria Airport, 27 February 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

The airport’s communications manager Nomasiko Paarehwa echoed his sentiments and said: “As an international airport, we have used this concept in planning for the future, hence all the developments that have been taking place and continue to take place at Lanseria.

“In the past three years, we have done some capital projects to improve infrastructure to accommodate growth of the airport and the new city that is coming.

“This has, in turn, added to economic development in the region in the form of temporary and permanent jobs.”

She said Lanseria Airport was already making use of the latest technology. For example, she said: “We are the only airport in Africa that has a scan-and-fly facility that allows passengers to do a bag drop without having to wait in a queue at the check-in counters.”

The airport is currently increasing its capacity from three million passengers annually to 5.2 million. Both the domestic and international areas have been enlarged and improved and future expansion plans include a major cargo facility.

“All this means more jobs for the community and economic upliftment,” added Paarehwa.

Construction at Lanseria Airport, 27 February 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

Rammopo said since 2009, the airport had spent almost R1 billion in improving its infrastructure and aimed to spend about R2 billion in completing the smart airport city that was in line with their master plan for 2020-2028.

Where 5G communication tech was concerned, he said: “We are actually looking to the department of telecommunications to make sure they make a spectrum available so we can be able to deploy some of these technologies.

“Digital migration should enable the country to have additional spectrum to afford opportunities not only to new entrants but existing operators…”

Businessman Tim Knowles said while the smart city concept was fantastic, he hoped the implementation would be well executed.

“If you see what’s going on in the rest of the world there is a trend towards smart cities.

“It’s very good if you can plan a city before you build it.

“Many cities start off and the planning comes later and that’s why you have all the traffic problems and utility problems around them.

“If you look at China, they plan and build the city before the people come.”

Crosspoint with Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, will implement the Lanseria Airport City Mega Project over a ten-year period. Gautrain will extend its route to Lanseria airport. Picture on 27 February 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

Estate agent Jo Lotter said it would definitely have an impact on property prices in the area and with plans for the Gautrain to run a line to the airport, it would be, in her words, “quite a new mega city”.

“You can just see by the road infrastructure already that the impact is going to be phenomenal.”

James Mokgotse, who sold grilled corn on the roadside a few kilometres from the airport, said he had been working there for the past three years to support his children.

“I would like to get people to develop this whole place so that we can also get places to sell our products and by developing the place, more people will be here – that means more customers for us to sell to.”

A manager at a nearby furniture shop, Jimmy Motaung, said although his business was faring well, it was not as busy as Johannesburg and would benefit from the new influx of people the smart city would bring.

However, he said: “This is a promise that was done almost a decade ago, which never happened.

“But if it is to happen, I think it will boost the business in a positive way because we use social media to promote our business, and currently not a lot of people notice the business on its own.

“But we will wait and see if it is really going to happen.”

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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