Durban - THE eThekwini Municipality has ordered Saint John’s Avenue residents in Glenwood to remove a boom gate and guard hut from the entrance to their road.
Gary Clayton, a representative of the residents, said the gate had been fixed to the pavement next to a wooden guard hut for the past five years. He said it caused no obstructions to any properties, vehicles or pedestrians.
“The boom is only closed between 10pm and 6am daily, which is when unsavoury activities such as prostitution and drug dealing occurred. It is manned by a security guard.”
Clayton said a disgruntled resident from another road near theirs reported the matter to the city for investigation.
The road is in the shape of the letter U and also has a cul-de-sac.
“We have been keeping criminals out for five years. Previously crime was rampant. I was also a victim. Prostitutes also bring clients into the road at night. We pay our rates but are not allowed to have a conversation with the city or to be heard about how we can work around the problem,” Clayton claimed.
He said they had been told by Durban metro police to remove the boom gates, but no date had been given.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the city would not permit such an obstruction. He said the city was not consulted on the matter and were unaware who erected the boom gate. “The city has received complaints about this boom gate. We have in the past received complaints regarding other boom gates and have had them removed. The Road Traffic Act applies in this regard, as no person may place an obstruction within the road reserve.”
The city’s position on the matter is that they do not support any installation that constitutes a restriction to traffic flow, any installation that would be seen as a restriction to the right of access on a public road or any permanent structures or installations on the roadside or verge.
Mayisela said the city opposed any structure or installation that compromised a road user’s safety, including pedestrian safety.
“If a formal complaint is lodged with the city’s eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) in respect of any such installation, ETA will investigate and instruct that it is removed,” he said.
Mmabatho Tembe, ward 33 councillor, said there was nothing regulating the erection of boom gates but the issue on Saint John’s Avenue was a sensor control gate.
“There are two entrances to the road. One has the boom gate while the other has a gate. The gate is the problem of contention. It has a sensor and only opens and closes for vehicles who have the remote. Pedestrians and those without the remote must exit and enter through the boom gated section,” Tembe explained.
Martin Meyer, ward 27 councillor, said the city had dismissed a motion requesting that its Community and Emergency Services Committee look into drafting an official policy on privately-funded security measures in public areas and installing access control (boom gates) in quieter roads and cul-de-sacs.
A resident who lives in the road, but did not want to be named,
said: “The police are supposed to be working with the community instead of against it. These booms have been a deterrent and are doing the job of the police.”
Another resident said: “It is a residential road, so anyone turning into the lane is going to visit someone who lives there, so no ‘traffic’ is affected.”