Paving the Way: how Melville makes its streets safer
What is the problem?
In Johannesburg’s neighbourhood of Melville, streets and sidewalks are frequently neglected, left damaged, uneven, and poorly maintained. When contractors dig up sidewalks to access underground high-voltage cables, they frequently leave behind broken paving, ditches, and piles of rubble, which remain unrepaired for long periods. The neighbourhood has high levels of foot traffic and, in part due to decaying infrastructure and faded road markings, many have been injured or killed in accidents in the area.
How are they solving it?
Danny Nunes founded Creass Community Services, a small Melville-based business dedicated to maintaining public spaces. Among various community care efforts, they help repair sidewalks and roads, supporting the neighbourhood’s drive to stay clean and accessible.
What made it work?
Repairing broken sidewalks: When a pavement has been damaged and left broken for a long time in Melville, Creass steps in and repairs it with concrete, creating an even, safe surface for walkers. “We'll just come take care of the sidewalk because the Roads Agency isn't finicky about maintaining a sidewalk. It's actually preferred if residents maintain their own sidewalks because the city is just so stretched,” says Nunes.
Building community pride: To encourage residents to maintain sidewalks, the Melville Residents Association runs a pavement competition, awarding prizes from local businesses to those who beautify their pavements. Keeping sidewalks walkable also means clearing trash, overgrowth, and fallen trees. Creass helps by picking up litter twice a week and assisting City Parks with cutting trees and overgrown vegetation.
Reporting faded road markings: The Melville community resorts to making road markings themselves only when all other options have been exhausted. When Nunes identifies an intersection where crashes are happening frequently and markings are faded, he first reports it several times, carefully recording the reference numbers.
Fixing road markings as a last resort: Nunes says,“The city has threatened us numerous times that if they catch us doing road markings, they will levy a fine and go so far as to charge us with malicious damage to property or defacing government property.” But if, after repeated efforts to get the city to intervene, nothing happens, the Melville community takes action. “There are accidents happening here on the daily because people can't see the stop street clearly, I'll take a chance and mark it…My job is to protect and serve the community and make sure that they can navigate our suburb safely. And they can only do that if they can see the road markings,” Nunes says.
Placing cats eyes: Recently, in response to the lack of working street lights on an especially twisty and dangerous road in the neighbourhood, Creass installed cat's eyes, making it safer for nighttime road users.
Following the guidelines: When doing any repairs to road surfaces, markings and sidewalks in Johannesburg, it is important to follow the guidelines set out in the Johannesburg Road Agency Roads & Stormwater Manual. “We do our best to follow the necessary requirements and specifications listed in that so that we're not just going rogue and doing something, but we're going by city standards,” says Nunes.
Collaborating with city departments: Nunes and the wider Melville community have built a strong working relationship with several city departments and service providers. Pikitup provides and services bins and skips for free to pick up litter in public spaces. Similarly, Creass helps City Parks clear trees fallen on streets and do site inspections, and in turn, City Parks is highly responsive to requests made by the Melville community to clear up after storms, plant new trees and maintain parks.
With collaboration and resource sharing between city agencies and community enterprises, Nunes says, “ I think the city of Joburg can be a beautiful place.”
Acknowledgements:
Article by: Maru Attwood
Photograph: Maru Attwood
Get your community involved
Is there a community-driven group or caring business in your area? A dedicated group of committed people can effectively solve local problems.
Think about starting or joining community groups like a street WhatsApp group, residents' association, or community policing forum (CPF) to get help and to stay informed and involved in local issues.
Know your rights – how local government works
It’s important to understand how your local government works so that you can work with them to support what they are doing while your community continues to keep them accountable and deliver services on time. Remember you have a constitutional right to many of the services provided by local government, as well as to accountability and transparency, wherever you live and regardless of how much you earn. It is also where money collected from taxes and rates goes.
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