They will also be manned by security guards and monitored by cameras. All the material and installation costs are donated by the SE3 community.“There won’t be restrictions or refusal of access to any vehicle or pedestrians,” says the SE3 Organising Committee, composed of volunteers.
The Committee emphasises in a media release that nobody should feel excluded or unwelcome. “In fact, all people are most welcome to visit our businesses, the school, and their friends in SE3. On entering a monitored road, information such as vehicle make and model, license plate numbers, and a photo of the entrants will be captured. The control room will authenticate this information,” explains the Committee.
“Should there be any alert, the entrant will be closely monitored, and relevant authorities notified to take appropriate action.” Keys to the gates of the closed roads will be readily available in case of an emergency or other necessities.
All pedestrians will gain access through a monitored side gate at any of the monitored roads. Cameras at these gates will take a photo of each entrant and the guard on duty will report any suspicious behaviour to the control room.
Some non-SE3-residents raised concerns that the closure will lead to traffic congestion at peak school times. The Traffic Assessment Study done in May this year determined traffic flow and congestion. At this stage the professional team is also focusing on finding solutions to assist with the pre-existing issues around the school.
Monitored access has already been implemented in many residential areas of large cities right through South Africa.
“The Committee sees no reason why ELM won’t grant its residents a similar heightened level of security, especially as no complaints were received from any of ELM departments during the last five months.
Some departments have even made suggestions and given solutions to improve on the Traffic engineer’s report. Various meetings were held with both the Roads and Public Safety departments and compliance to all written aspects was addressed by the Traffic engineer. All Councillors that have joined in on the over 19 Zoom meetings have given both their support and appreciation for the project’s objectives.
“The committee has further gained written consent from SAPS, the Fire department, businesses in SE3, the school and the Emerald Resort & Casino. The monitored access project is driven by proper procedures and processes, and all meetings, polls, comments, complaints and suggested solutions from the community were welcomed and considered.”
The Committee further says it has engaged with several professional organisations to advise and assist with the application process to ELM. Given that the requirements have been met, and no further request for information or complaints have been received from ELM departments, the Committee then acted on the mandate from the community to close all roads, which were indicated as low volume traffic roads (as per TIA).
The Committee says this was done in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent call to all communities to safeguard themselves. The project also favours maintenance, repairs and upgrading of infrastructure.
“In fact, we believe the municipality will welcome this gesture with open arms and that this blueprint can be rolled out to all suburbs.”
