Trucks block Westdene streets
WESTDENE – Residents accuse NJR Steel trucks of abusing their streets and pavements by parking all day on them.
One of the big steel companies in South Africa is being accused of abusing Westdene streets and acting irresponsible, by local residents.
Residents allege that truck drivers of NJR Steel park their trucks on Perth Road and its neighbouring streets for 24 hours a day, every day of the week.
They said because of these trucks, they do not have access to their pavements, streets and sometimes these drivers go as far as blocking even residential gates.
Ward 69 Councillor Katja Naumann said she is aware of the issue and together with the residents, officials, police and ward committee members, have visited the premises on several occasions to make the owners of the business aware of all their contraventions.
“As it turns out the premises are covered by CCTV cameras which stream directly into the MD’s office, there can thus be no excuse for the continued ‘abuse’ of the street parking,” she said.
Councillor Naumann said it is clear that the company is not taking this matter seriously and it has continued year after year to break the bylaws of the City of Joburg.
She said JMPD, Urban Planning Department as well as the head of service delivery in Region B are all investigating the matter and issuing the necessary fines.
“At this stage it is not even clear whether the company has obtained the correct zoning to run such an industrial operation,” she said.
Councillor Naumann said it is perhaps time for residents, students and consumers to boycott purely profit-driven businesses and communes “which show no concern or responsibility for how they conduct their businesses or impact the environment in which they operate and blatantly break the laws of this city”.
The NJR Steel Westdene branch manager Anthony Chapman referred the matter to head office.
The operational manager for all NJR Steel branches, Tyrone Jacobs said they are aware of the problem but it is not true to say they are doing nothing about it.
“We had meetings last year with the community authorities and we tabled our suggestions about parking space but until today we are still waiting for approval,” said Jacobs.
“During our meeting, we spoke about a section which is not used along Ontdekkers Road and also another property where we suggested can be used as our sites, but they [the City of Joburg and other affected stakeholders] haven’t responded.
“To accuse us of ignorance, is not fair. We are trying very hard to address the issue of parking because we know we are inconveniencing residents, but we are not being helped by the authorities,” he added.
He also said that it is a very old company with many branches and they try every day to accommodate the needs of the community.
NJR Steel was founded in 1980 and has branches in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu-Natal.
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