WITH four months of trade losses turning into an expected nine, businesses along Fleet Street are resorting to desperate measures to survive the disappearance of their road.
When the R86-million Buffalo City Metro (BCM) project kicked off in October, the contractor, Siyahlobisa Projects, said the 300m stretch comprising Zone 1 of the five-zone project would only take four months to complete.
But on Thursday, the contractor’s site agent, Dries Brits, said they hit groundwater, and although they threw all their machinery at a recovery and acceleration plan this week, Zone 1 would only be completed by July.
Interviews with six business owners on the street revealed they were on their last legs and the delay might cause closures.
However, BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said on the weekend that the project had “picked up after resolution of social and technical related problems”.
He said a “communication breakdown” had been resolved through the formation of a technical committee.
But Warren Jegels, owner of the three-year-old Quigney Meats, said: “I am on anti-depressants. I am letting my staff go.”
He was outraged when a BCM health inspector approached the business saying there was too much dust.
“He asked me what am I going to do, and I said what can I f****** say, I am crying because of this road.”
To survive, Jegels set up a triplesized grid outside the shop sells braai meat in the afternoons.
Last week staff from UG Full Power tyre and battery business were seen fitting and charging batteries in a side-street.
Ugo Martin, owner of Ugo Martin Car Body Works, said he was forced to take his children out of school and was borrowing to keep up with rent.
“Business is down to zero. My workers ran away,” said Martin.
He said three cars were trapped in the workshop by the earthworks, but Brits said they once stopped work and did some earth moving to get customers’ vehicles out.
Ajith Balakrishna, manager of Office Incorporated, said he used to do a lot of government trade, “but officials will call and say: ‘I am on the other side of the road and we can’t get to your business’. Then they drive on to the next supplier.”
He used to do a lot of trade with Buffalo City Metro, and a mug with a BCM logo is in a display cabinet at the entrance.
He said cash sales were down 40% and “now we are digging into capital. We have one month to go and then we are screwed. Look how my guys who normally do my designs are sitting on Facebook or Google now,” he said.
He lived in roadworks-constrained Gonubie and was being hit by “a double whammy”.
Shelly Scott, who handles front-ofshop for Hamlong Electrical, where washing machines stood inside and out on the sidewalk coated in dust, said she picked up a “hot tub” bacterial infection after she dropped her phone in sewage-contaminated earthworks.
“It rang so I picked it up, brushed off the soil and answered. I broke out in sores on my face and the infection spread all over my body.”
Her boss, Clint Hamlett, said they were being fobbed off by BCM and Siyahlobisa Projects, and that the last meeting of the Fleet Street Business Association “got out of hand” with business owners furiously attacking the municipality and their roadbuilders.
However, Brits said although their complaints book was filling up, he was remaining calm: “My father taught me to count ‘One kabouter, two kabouter …” ––
Stress of closure hurts Fleet Street businesses
When the R86-million Buffalo City Metro (BCM) project kicked off in October, the contractor, Siyahlobisa Projects, said the 300m stretch comprising Zone 1 of the five-zone project would only take four months to complete.
But on Thursday, the contractor’s site agent, Dries Brits, said they hit groundwater, and although they threw all their machinery at a recovery and acceleration plan this week, Zone 1 would only be completed by July.
Interviews with six business owners on the street revealed they were on their last legs and the delay might cause closures.
However, BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said on the weekend that the project had “picked up after resolution of social and technical related problems”.
He said a “communication breakdown” had been resolved through the formation of a technical committee.
But Warren Jegels, owner of the three-year-old Quigney Meats, said: “I am on anti-depressants. I am letting my staff go.”
He was outraged when a BCM health inspector approached the business saying there was too much dust.
“He asked me what am I going to do, and I said what can I f****** say, I am crying because of this road.”
To survive, Jegels set up a triplesized grid outside the shop sells braai meat in the afternoons.
Last week staff from UG Full Power tyre and battery business were seen fitting and charging batteries in a side-street.
Ugo Martin, owner of Ugo Martin Car Body Works, said he was forced to take his children out of school and was borrowing to keep up with rent.
“Business is down to zero. My workers ran away,” said Martin.
He said three cars were trapped in the workshop by the earthworks, but Brits said they once stopped work and did some earth moving to get customers’ vehicles out.
Ajith Balakrishna, manager of Office Incorporated, said he used to do a lot of government trade, “but officials will call and say: ‘I am on the other side of the road and we can’t get to your business’. Then they drive on to the next supplier.”
He used to do a lot of trade with Buffalo City Metro, and a mug with a BCM logo is in a display cabinet at the entrance.
He said cash sales were down 40% and “now we are digging into capital. We have one month to go and then we are screwed. Look how my guys who normally do my designs are sitting on Facebook or Google now,” he said.
He lived in roadworks-constrained Gonubie and was being hit by “a double whammy”.
Shelly Scott, who handles front-ofshop for Hamlong Electrical, where washing machines stood inside and out on the sidewalk coated in dust, said she picked up a “hot tub” bacterial infection after she dropped her phone in sewage-contaminated earthworks.
“It rang so I picked it up, brushed off the soil and answered. I broke out in sores on my face and the infection spread all over my body.”
Her boss, Clint Hamlett, said they were being fobbed off by BCM and Siyahlobisa Projects, and that the last meeting of the Fleet Street Business Association “got out of hand” with business owners furiously attacking the municipality and their roadbuilders.
However, Brits said although their complaints book was filling up, he was remaining calm: “My father taught me to count ‘One kabouter, two kabouter …” ––
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