Nearly 90 years after its birth Alexandra township, renowned for its squalor, is to undergo a revamp
Ntuthuko Maphumulo
As you enter Alexandra township you are greeted by the smell of rubbish and toilets. It comes from shacks on the pavements.
Women wash and rinse their clothes on the road, which is also a playground for their children. Pedestrians stroll slowly, ignoring cars on the crowded, narrow streets.
The Jukskei river, which runs through the township, is choked with rubbish. There are still traces of the shacks demolished two months ago along its banks.
Alexandra is to be revamped at a cost of R1,3-billion over the next 10 years. This week the Gauteng government’s renewal project for the township was officially launched.
Alexandra, which has a reputation as a breeding ground for criminals, came into existence in 1912 and has suffered forced removals throughout its history.
The township was named after farmer’s wife Alexandra Papenfuss. Built on the farm Sewefontein it was earmarked as an area for blacks who worked in the city.
Much of Alexandra’s history has disappeared without a trace as there is constant demolition of houses to create space to build new ones.
The township has been home to many greats: leaders, soccer stars, musicians and gangsters.
The likes of Nelson Mandela, former intelligence minister Joe Nhlanhla and jazz legends Hugh Masekela, Zakes Nkosi and Ntemi Piliso once lived in the area.
The soccer team Black Leopards, famous in the 1950s, came from Alexandra. So did the Msomi and Tuta gangs that terrorised the community.
The township experienced political turmoil in the early 1950s. The nationwide bus boycott of the period started in Alex.
The community successfully resisted many attempts to forcibly remove them in the 1950s and 1960s.
Some Alex residents were removed to Soweto, Tembisa and Mabophane township during the 1970s. The Save Alexandra Committee was formed to resist the removals and by 1979 the government gave up.
The township was known as “the Dark City” because until 1982, there were no services provided to residents.
It also had its fair share of political upheavals in the early 1990s. The Beirut hostel was a no-go area in Alexandra when Inkatha Freedom Party supporters occupied it and shot at residents walking past.
By this year the township that was built to accommodate 40?000 people had a population of about 500?000 people. Alexandra is near a major industrial area and provides workers to the nearby wealthy suburb of Sandton.
The development of Alexandra has been slow but recently government and business have been working to make it a decent place to live. Vodacom paid for the upgrading of the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court and the police station that are now on par with other public buildings in the country.
The revamping created employment for builders in Alexandra and also provided opportunities for hawkers after a market was built nearby.
Until recently the biggest development in Alexandra was the Tsutsumani Village, which was built to accommodate athletes who participated in the All Africa Games in 1999. The houses in the village were sold to Alex residents after the games.
New houses have also been built at Eastbank and River Park. Not all the houses are occupied and there are many battles between people occupying houses illegally and those who have been on the long waiting list for many years.
Alexandra residents did not succeed in resisting when a democratically elected government forcibly removed thousands of families two months ago. More than 400 families were removed from old Alexandra and along the Jukskei river to Braamfischerville, Dobsonville and Diepsloot.
Former town clerk Arthur Magermana says: “People first resisted change and now have begun to see change as a positive thing. The cleaning of the Jukskei river is being done to help them and the removals are for the best so that they can now get new houses.”
The renewal project will see new schools, clinics, hostels, houses and streets being built. People living in the township illegally will be removed and illegal structures demolished.
One of the township’s councillors, Conny Bapela, says: “We are talking to people in surrounding communities to help house Alexandra residents while the township is being renewed.”
Alex resident Linda Twala says “too many outsiders and people without any pride are keeping Alexandra dirty”. Twala is one of four contractors that ensure that the streets of Alexandra are kept clean.
Grandmother of two Joyce Kgamo says: “I will be happy if I get a new house.” The old house she has been living in for more than 20 years has been earmarked for demolition. Kgamo complains that when it rains water enters the house and the wooden floors stink. She also complains that there are big rats around the place and many cockroaches.
An NGO, the Soul Foundation, is responsible for cleaning up the Jukskei river. It recently received a grant of R3,8-million for the cleaning and maintenance of the river.
The NGO has recruited 50 members of the Alexandra Unemployed Residents’ Association, who have already filled 8?000 bags of refuse, including old clothes, shoes, bottles, cans, plastic, wire and car parts.
At the end of the project 60 people will be employed, nine project managers will be qualified to work on other projects and nine previously unemployed teachers will be qualified to facilitate life skills and environmental education.
The plan is to develop recreational areas around the Jukskei river, such as picnic spots, cycling trails and walkways.