The Biko memorial statue in Oxford Street next to the East London City Hall. Picture: MARK ANDREWS.
THE East London central business district is set for a major facelift.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Dispatch on the metro’s priorities this year, mayor Zukiswa Ncitha revealed she was going to table a plan in which “ideally” all the city’s hawkers doing business along Oxford Street would be centralised in one place “just as in other cities”.
“When you come to town you are never sure which one is Oxford Street. That’s how bad things are.
“You end up finding yourself nearing the beachfront and you ask yourself where is the town’s main street.
“It’s not easy to identify Oxford Street as we used to do,” she said.
The mayor said she had already tabled a proposal to the metro’s local economic development department.
“The first step that I proposed to LED was to have a meeting with all the Oxford street hawkers because (that’s the) starting point,” she said.
Two possible spots have already been identified, one being Argyle Street between Jet Stores and Foschini.
The other is near the old OK store.
“We would like to centralise them (hawkers) like in other towns.
“But we won’t remove them far from their customers.
“They will remain close to the shoppers but instead use the side streets that lead off Oxford,” she said.
This is aimed at finding a long-term solution to Oxford Street’s congestion which is linked to the high crime rate in the city.
Ncitha said a recent public safety report pointed to escalating crime levels in the CBD, as a result of the congestion.
“I (on behalf of BCM) had a meeting with police, (which) raised the issue of rising crime statistics (within the CBD). Criminals use these stalls to hide,” she said.
Once hawkers agree to move to a central point, Ncitha said all the shops along Oxford street would be painted in one colour, to ensure that the street stood out and returned to its former glory.
“Oxford Street deserves a distinct colour. The municipality will be responsible for that so that all the landlords abide by the rule which will determine the official colour of Oxford Street.
“The plan is to use local youths to do this project.
“We will ask the council to give us the go-ahead to buy our own paint and use young people to paint the whole street and then pay them a stipend,” she said.
The plan is also to rid the city centre of illegal shebeens, and free the legal ones from drug peddlers.
The mayor said police had raised concerns about the mushrooming of illegal shebeens in the CBD, especially in upper Oxford Street.
“Behind most of the illegal liquor businesses are drug dens,” Ncitha said.
“The plan is once you clear the streets, you then enforce the law in these shebeens, with the help of South African police services and the city’s law enforcement agencies.
“That’s the first leg of the facelift – clearing the city and making it friendly for everyone,” she said.
Ncitha said it would not be wise to discuss details of the plan, as the Metro first had to get a buy-in from the affected people.
“The matter is still going to Council, and once Council gives its input and a go-ahead, the plan would then be put into action.
“It won’t be wise to give further details because the affected community has not been consulted yet,” she said. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
SMG
January 29, 2013
Seriously! WHAT ABOUT THE GONUBIE RESIDENTIAL ROADS??? When is this mess going to be sorted out? BCM is spending money left right and centre on roads, but what about Gonubie? Our roads are getting worse and worse, potholes now as big as craters in most avenues and still, nothing gets done. Once a year they are filled with sand. What does this help? These roads need to be re-surfaced, not just filled. We were in PE a few weeks ago and the roads all over PE are stunning. The first comment we made was that we did not see ONE pothole, anywhere! Come on BCM, we’re paying you for these services, start taking some pride in the city you run!!!
Rob
January 29, 2013
Oh please, wtf does BCM know about running a city? The highlight of their inflated & overpaid careers are to paint a few buildings….. I actually feel kinda sorry for them.
Dave Rankin
January 29, 2013
If council wants to clean up Oxford Street then enforce the existing by-laws. That’s all they have to do and that is what the BCM Police are there for. Enforce existing the law and the streets will be clear. Who are the affected communities? The people legally doing business – who will welcome the change and the people illegally doing business – who don’t have a say in the matter because they are breaking the law.
MACT
January 29, 2013
As an ex resident of the city who returns regurlaly I have noticed a marked deterioration of the city in general but specifically the CBD. I believe it is going the same way as Umtata and other Eastern Cape towns so no matter what the mayor proposes it will not stop the inner city decay. The money can be best spent on:
1. Enforcing regulations that govern informal trading and create a single market
place for all the traders in return
2. A lot of the buildings are historic. Rather clean them up or restore to “look historic” in partnership with land lords using local labour. To paint them all one hideous colour, which could take years to decide, is tunnel vision thinking.
Johnn Dennett
January 29, 2013
What can I say. The great master plan has been birthed after many years of trashing the main St. in EL . What is it? Clean up the streets! Wow! and Wow !again.The hawkers will be upset of course because thier litter dunmping has been a deliberate process to employ buddies & friends to clean up after them.May i suggest the mayor rounds up the hawkers and dips them all into the sea and hopefully a giant wave will be generated from this mass cleansing that will make it`s way up Oxford St. and clean as it goes.
andiswa
February 13, 2013
Oxford street looks like hillbrow,dirty dark and dingy.
the tar roads are in aweful conditions,buildings look unclean,goven mbeki road in pe is way cleaner and goodlookin. there are no visible police or traffic officers to moniter traffic,taxis which park any where they want,i feel like im in idutywa when goin past oxford,i try by all means to avoid it.
the hawkers make it hard to walk from shop to show there is literally no space to walk on,u hardly have time to look at what the hawkers are selling as criminals walk past you pick pocketting you,parking is hard to find.
its a mess,its chaotic its embarressin as a residing buffalo city resident.
BCM is failing us we should be on par with port elizabeth,their roads,the clean taxi ranks everything. this city has now become a has been.
even the BCM building is a joke. what is council doing about this? all i know is money is being consumed but not where its supposed to go.
Sino Mpitimpiti
February 15, 2013
Wow! This is a wonderful idea and will put it in my prayers that it works and the hawkers involved co-operate as this will make a huge change and give more peace of mind as the shoppers.
thandolwethu
February 25, 2013
to me it sounds like a gud idea because these hawkers give us no space as a result we become victims of being searched by these crooks because the street is crowded. they shoulod really be moved somewhere else. i pray that it works.
lelethu
April 29, 2013
Honestly people if you don’t have anything nice to rather reserve your comments to yourselves, becaus this has nothing to do with careers that being over payed and there is absolutely no reason to be rude. Respect goes a long way.