Overview of the ARP

Scratching beneath the surface

Released: March 2006 | Source: ARP

When driving through Alexandra one can see much physical improvement. There are rows of new houses, blocks of flats, resurfaced roads, the new London Road bridge and seven stunning new parks. But is that all there is to the Alexandra Renewal Project?  Let's scratch beneath the surface...

Engineering infrastructure and waste management

Before anything new could be added to Alexandra, master planning had to be undertaken on a massive scale for all services, i.e. water, sanitation, solid waste, roads, stormwater drainage and electricity. Chaos reigned - there were almost no records of what had been done in the past or what lay beneath the surface. It was therefore essential that CCTV inspections of sewers and stormwater drains had to be made, as well as a comprehensive above-ground audit of services.

Unlike a row of newly built houses, new infrastructure is not easily visible and therefore seldom impacts on the public mind as an "Oh wow!", nevertheless it is the essential precursor to almost all above ground developments and is very capital intensive. Here are some of the projects undertaken so far:

• The water supply into Alexandra was seriously under-capacitated with the supply sometimes slowing to a trickle. The ARP financed a new reservoir in Linbro Park with a pipeline (installed using new trenchless technology) into Alexandra now providing consistent water pressure.

• Bulk water and outfall sewer projects are substantially complete, including the upgrading of water mains for Frankenwald, Westlake and Marlboro.

• The necessary engineering work was done to remove the existing sewage pump station on the banks of the Jukskei River. The Jukskei Environmental Masterplan was also completed.

Excavation and rebuilding of water mains		A deep trench being dug during the upgrade of an outfall sewer

Access to basic utilities

There have been huge improvements in the provision of utilities since the start of the Project:

	72% of Alex residents now have access to water and sanitation.
	88% of residents now have safe access to electricity - this in a place once known as "Dark City".
	Approximately 46 000 hygienic refuse bins have been distributed throughout Alexandra, and refuse collection by Piki-tup has improved dramatically.

Pre-ARP, Alex was a tangled web of illegal and highly dangerous electrical connections				The Alexandra Renewal Project brings light to the "Dark City"

Drop in serious crime levels in Alex

The Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) in partnership with the Department of Safety and Security  and the Community Policy Forum introduced tough "no tolerance" measures to combat crime in this township.

According to the latest figures, serious crime in Alexandra has been reduced by an astounding 40% since the start of the Renewal Project. So what has been done to reduce criminal activity?

	A new police station has been built right at the heart of the township.
	Together with the Johannesburg Unicity Metropolitan Police, the ARP has established a communication centre enabling the police to respond to calls faster.
	Three new vehicles were purchased by the ARP for the Metro Police Department, specifically for use in Alexandra.
	Sector policing in the area has helped combat crime. A vehicle has been assigned to each sector of the area for quick response when the need arises.
	Participated in the development of a nodal point by metro police.
	Development and implementation of Counter Land Invasion Strategy.
	Development of the Alex Disaster Management Plan.
	The Community Policing Forum has established monitoring forums and ward committees, making it easier for police to interact and react within specific communities.
	The ARP organised training for 822 volunteer community marshalls.
	Another successful moves has been addressing problems at shebeens and getting rid of illegal ones.
	A school policing forum has been launched. "We are conscientising learners about crime. They find it difficult to associate with the police. We want to discourage that. Learners should see the police as friends and parents," says Captain Shirelele William Mboweni of the Alexandra police station.

ARP donates 3 new vehicles for use in Alexandra night patrols		Housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane hands over title deeds in old Alex

Transfer of existing property

The old township of Alexandra was de-proclaimed in the 1960s and all privately-owned land reverted to the government of the day. In the push to right this wrong, the process of transferring 6000 free-standing properties and approximately 1400 apartments to their rightful owners (or selected beneficiaries) began in May 2005 through the Transfer of Residential Property Stock programme.  TORPS is an enabling mechanism to transfer properties to allocated or selected beneficiaries.

Why is it taking so long?

Part of the renewal process is to regularise town planning and home ownership records in Alexandra, whether for freestanding houses or units in the apartment blocks built during the 1980s. It is necessary to re-establish property registers, with officially recognised stands, proper title deeds and legal ownership. The preparation for this is a mammoth task, with the following processes having to be completed first:

	Surveying of all old Alexandra.
	65 township registers opened in Alexandra.
	"As built" plans drawn for every single permanent structure and individual apartment.
	Individual property valuation of each unit.

Once this has all been completed the legal processes will be set in motion, culminating in the transfer of properties to individual home owners - but more about this in a future article on identifying beneficiaries.