Lipstick on a pothole: Joburg’s G20 glow-up sparks pride — and fury

Christa

“Dear Ferial, My 2 cents’ worth: The instant fix on and alongside the highways and routes that the G20 attendees will use presents Johannesburg residents with a conundrum.

“On the one hand, I guess we’re ‘grateful’ that Something Has Been Done; on the other, the implication that ‘gratitude’ is appropriate for work done in a hurry to window-dress for visiting foreign movers and shakers rather than the residents... is infuriating.

“Wouldn't it have been nice to have simply added some pretty stuff over and above functioning services? Is anyone taking bets on how long this quick-fix is going to be maintained? My guess is probably not at all.

“When the last Important Visitor has left, the zebras and egrets will be stolen and new potholes will be ignored. It'll be back to business as usual — except that we actually can’t use the routes we normally use for the duration of the conference, so we’ll definitely be exposed to the endemic degradation still very visible on the alternative routes.”

Read more: In Johannesburg over G20 weekend? Here are the routes to avoid

Fikile

“We can’t give up on our city, so citizens, we must claim back our Johannesburg city.”

Willie

“Our city, Johannesburg, is the only city in South Africa that was built on entrepreneurship from day one. When gold was discovered on the Reef in 1886, entrepreneurs and skilled people all converged to find their fortune.

“Therefore, despite all challenges through the years, our City prospers. Just read up on all the frustrations that were experienced by the late president Paul Kruger and even General Jan Smuts. You will find throughout our city a spirit of ‘We Can Do It’ among us citizens, despite the doom and gloom that we see emanating from the Civic Centre in Braamfontein.”

Bridget

“It does make me see red! The mayor and his cohorts are not in the least bit concerned about the citizens of Johannesburg; all they are doing is window dressing the mess that is Johannesburg.

“Obviously, Cyril Ramaphosa doesn’t drive too far around Johannesburg, nor does the mayor, or they would have seen the multiple potholes and myriad robots that don’t function. On the route from Greenstone to Rosebank, you will hardly find a working robot.

“But we can window dress the city to try to impress the foreigners visiting our shores instead of dealing with the jobs that should be done on a daily basis.”

Jeremy

“I’ve come back to live in Joburg after living in the US for 17 years, and four in the UK. There are so many positive signs in our country. People are brave, industrious and bright. We see improvements everywhere.

“Yes, it’s got some way to go, but it’s community and local groups doing their thing. I’m so happy to be living here where people are neither complacent nor numb. We’re more alive and dynamic than I’ve experienced anywhere else in the world. We’ve NOT given up… and we never will. That’s what makes us so unique as a people.”

Read more: Communities repair roads, water and power in DIY revolution as City of Joburg falters

Caroline

“A definitive no! Our suburb has started an NGO to clean up the streets, providing much-needed piece work for people as frequently as funds allow. The response from residents and business owners is heartwarming as free meals are donated, plants are sponsored, refuse is removed, shoes are donated, etc.

“There are movements starting up everywhere; the people claim back their city. We will not let our City of Gold collapse simply because so-called leaders don’t care. See RED. It is fraud and embarrassing, as attendees have embassies here that inform and brief their leaders, who all know about this last-minute application of ‘lipstick on a pig’.”

Sylvia

“The government has given up, agreed, in every respect — but the citizens have not. Time to rise up and take our city back and restore it to the place it is meant to be. Vibey, inclusive, funky, with a gees all of its own. I love our city and our unique culture. So, we have not given up on Joburg. Let’s get our Jozi back!”

Thandeka

“I see red! Because what this ‘gentrification’ means is that the city can actually be maintained, can actually be kept clean, can actually work. They just choose not to — unless they are going to be in the spotlight. World Cup, now G20.”

Duncan

“I’m in the ‘makes me see red’ category! Why? This is why: We’ve been ignored by the City for years as politicians simply fight factional battles for control of the budget — the city is a mess as a result.

“We’ve known for 18 months, two years, that we’ll be hosting the G20 in Jozi, and yet it took a level of self-indulgent whining from Cyril about how he’d be embarrassed to get Morero and his mob to even think about cleaning up small slivers of the city.

“The mayor then appointed a ‘Bomb Squad’ to sort things out. I heard him being quoted on radio this morning singing their praises about how issues that have been problems for years took only 24 hours to sort out. So what are we paying salaries for — to people presumably tasked to do this as their jobs?

“And how much are we paying for this sticking plaster intervention? And will it make one iota of difference once the G20 is done? 

“I drove to Kensington last weekend, coming from the Joe Slovo off-ramp, up Commissioner St and onto Roberts Avenue: the bulk of the buildings on the right-hand side of the road, for a couple of blocks down, look like a Mad Max post-apocalyptic nightmare. No windows, no power, just bare, stripped shells, waiting to be the site of the next deadly inferno.

“And what do we do? Stick fake zebras and birds onto an interchange for foreign leaders to ignore as they speed past in their blue-light cavalcades?

“This last bit — sponsored by Investec — sums up the City and the ANC-led coalition to a tee: vast swathes of the city have collapsed completely, are probably beyond repair, or on the brink of collapse… And yet the best we can do is get a bank for the rich to stick a bit of advertising art on a newly cut and painted verge and hope like hell that none of the G20 leaders venture beyond the designated route from ORT to Nasrec and back.” DM