Johannesburg - The T1 Rea Vaya route runs through the four Soweto townships of Diepkloof, Noordgesig, Orlando East and Nomzamo informal settlement near Dube.
The view from the bus has changed a lot in the run-up to the municipal elections.
Locals say electioneering has seen street lights that have been broken for years now burning bright.
Roads have been tarred, street-sweeping has been taking place and water doesn't run down the streets anymore.
Nomthunzi Ndzelu, a resident of Nomzamo, near the Rea Vaya Boomtown station, went to the Eastern Cape in March this year. She said when she left, the informal settlement had no street lights, rubbish was everywhere and there was water everywhere.
When she returned last month the place looked refreshed and her neighbours have even had smart meters for electricity installed.
“We know this is happening because municipal elections are next month, and politicians need to canvass voters.”
As the sun sets over Soweto, Rea Vaya buses - which are in and of themselves a sign of development in the area - are full of people returning home.
Romeo Manyiki, a 28-year-old resident of Orlando East, was at the Orlando police station Rea Vaya stop. Unlike in Nomzamo, Manyiki said housing and infrastructure are the biggest problem.
“There are too many people living in rental shacks and one toilet is not enough,” he said. “These congested yards also affect the electricity. When people come home from work and everybody cooks, the power goes off,” said Manyiki.
He said there's been good and bad in terms of development over the years.
“We have sporting facilities that keep youth away from bad elements, but these need improvement.”
Further along the T1 route in Noordgesig, resident Thulani Baxeka said parts of the suburb have remained in darkness for so many years that locals don't even complain anymore. Baxeka said what they need are more facilities and better maintenance schedules of facilities.
“We have a park, but it's a dump site now. There isn't a hall in the area were the community can meet.”
As the Rea Vaya route meanders to Diepkloof, resident Kena Makgamako said in the past two weeks Marthinus Smuts Drive has been re-tarred. The 34-year-old is cynical about the work being done because of election fever.
“Every day I jog in the morning and it's dark, but recently I noticed the lights are on.”
For the up and downs in this part of Soweto, residents said they will be at the polls; they will be voting for long-lasting improvements.
Saturday Star