Safety wall on track
2011-09-15
Lise Beyers
THE first sod was turned on Tuesday next to the railway line in Mbekweni, to pave the way for a safety wall separating informal residents of OR and Nether Park from the railway line. This sod-turning was conducted by Transnet’s CEO, Brian Molefe, who marked this event as a significant milestone towards ensuring the safety of communities along the railway line in Mbekweni. Here are approxamately 1000 informal homes. Many people have lost their lives while crossing the railway line and landing up in front of an oncoming train. The most recent such tragedy was in May this year when two toddlers were killed by an oncoming train near OR. Project manager Steve van Niekerk, said that normally these safety walls are constructed on average 29 metres from the railway track. But because houses were in such close proximity to the railway line and the lack of housing alternatives so vast, this distance had been reduced to 15 metres. But three rows of houses will have to be removed to construct the wall, displacing 158 families. Deputy Mayor of Drakenstein, Conrad Poole, said that arrangements are being made to have these families temporarily resettled on a portion of Schoongezicht farm in Dal Josaphat, an area which had been earmarked for low-cost housing development. He added that the Municipality was making headway into the long overdue Drommedaris Special Housing Project next to the Dal Josaphat vehicle test centre. Molefe said that while Transnet was constructing the wall, it was not a long-term solution and that the Municipality had to find ways to ensure that once these residents have been moved from the area, that newcomers do not establish homes there. The pre-cast hollow concrete wall will run along the railway line for a 3km stretch - 2 kilometres to the north of Mbekweni station and one kilometre south. It will be 3 metres high. “It is the most solid wall which Transnet has built to date,” said Van Niekerk.
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