The maintenance and upkeep of subways have been a proverbial thorn in the side of the southern suburbs for too many years to mention, with the latest setback being the disintegration of plans for a special task force to address the deteriorating conditions.
A motion for the establishment of such a City of Cape Town special task force was made and accepted at a Subcouncil 20 meeting on Wednesday 19 November 2020.
Flooding, unkept premises, the danger of muggings, poor and faulty lighting conditions, and the occupation of the subways by street people in the winter months are, but some of the issues which consistently crop up.
The City has different departments – lighting, cleansing, roads and stormwater, and social development – which address these issues individually. The idea behind the task team was to access all of these services in a coordinated way.
According to Mikhael Manuel, councillor for Ward 59 who also serves as Subcouncil 11 Portfolio chair: Urban Mobility, Subcouncil 20 was in the process of establishing one.
“But the change in subcouncil boundaries following the Local Government Elections (held on 1 November 2021) meant that an alternative solution was pursued,” says Manuel.
Operational processes
Ward 59 now falls in Subcouncil 11. At present, there are 17 subways and street-to-street subways located in Ward 59 which encompasses parts of Claremont, Newlands, Rondebosch and Rosebank.
The City is responsible for the maintenance and renewal of street-to-street subways while those located at railway stations fall under Prasa’s mantle of responsibility. Street-to-street subways include those in Draper Street, Kelvin Road, Rouwkoop Road, Grove Road, Erin Road, Bishops, Silwood, Belmont Road, Eureka Road, Rygersdal, Alma and Liesbeek West.
Subways at train stations that fall under the ward, and Prasa, include those in Harfield, Claremont, Newlands, Rondebosch and Rosebank.
Manuel says that, instead of establishing a special task force, he is working with the City’s line departments, via the Subcouncil, to improve the operational processes and standards for each item impacting the use of the subways. These operational processes and standards, he says, cover littering, lighting and flooding.
“The Subcouncil has received reports on the status quo on cleansing (to address littering), and electricity (to address lighting), and is due to receive the report on water pumps (to address flooding) shortly.
“Once all three reports have been received, I will work with the officials to improve how regularly the subways are cleaned, are checked for faulty lights, how regularly the water pumps are checked for maintenance issues and how regularly the officials check the subways for flooding that needs urgent attention.”
The City has allocated R580 000 for the 2023/24 FY to improve cleansing in all subways in Ward 59 that are owned and managed by the City. Manuel adds that additional funding in the budgets for 24/25 FY and 25/26 FY is drafted and will still undergo internal processes before being approved.
According to Manuel, all City-owned subways in Ward 59 are currently cleaned twice a week as well as in response to service requests.
“The Subcouncil is currently looking at ways to utilise the additional funding to increase the frequency of cleansing of the subways.”
‘Daily action needed’
Rosebank resident Gill Lanham, who regularly checks the subways located in her area, has posted thousands of photos over the years of flooded and litter-filled subways on the Rondebosch Rosebank Little Mowbray Facebook. Lanham believes that nothing less than a daily check-up by the City will do.
“I usually check the subway route from Rosebank to Erin Road once per week, walking from Rosebank, usually on a Friday, and have a photographic record since 2014. The Subcouncil 11 manager, Christa Liebenberg, put a huge amount of effort into cleaning these last year, but when the subways are not put to immediate use, and checked daily, action taken immediately, this is what happens,” she says.
Lanham says the safety of Capetonians should be a top priority.
Describing a typical afternoon on Monday 16 May, Lanham shares how she walked through the Liesbeek West subway only to find it had water and stepping stones in “again”.
“This afternoon as I walked toward the Bishops and Erin Road ones, a crazed drug addict, who moves around here, went ballistic. I rushed over back to the Silwood shops – no one that I spoke to had the police’s number. Any member of the public could have been seriously hurt, especially a Bishops boy or elderly person,” says Lanham.
Status report
Five subways in Rondebosch (Eureka, Belmont, Silwood, Bishops, and Erin) have been the subject of a Managed Closure Status public participation process since 2003.
Manuel explains these subways were locked during the State of Disaster (1 October 2021 to 4 April 2022).
With the status now approved, these subways will never again be welded shut or closed permanently.
With the Bishops subway already open for some time, the Silwood and Erin subways were opened and cleaned on Sunday 8 May. On Monday 10 May, Manuel, councillor for Ward 59, declared these three subways open to use by pedestrians and cyclists, adding that the Silwood and Erin subways would be unlocked at 07:00 and locked at 19:00, seven days a week, going forward thanks to a community partner agreement with Fidelity ADT.
The Bishops subway is managed by Bishops College, by agreement with the City, and has permission to keep this subway locked during the weekend.
The two remaining subways – Belmont and Eureka – are still occupied.
When People’s Post visited the three open subways at 17:00 on Friday 20 May, the Silwood and Bishop ones were clean, freshly painted and in use. The absence of lighting in the Silwood subway, however, did make the trip through the secluded underground passage a nerve-wracking one.
The Erin subway was locked, dark and showed signs of recent occupation. The walls were also burnt black from presumed cooking fires.
Manuel says the officials are aware of the faulty lighting at Erin and Silwood subways.
“The wiring needs to be replaced, which is causing the delay in getting this repaired. I regularly follow up with the officials to ensure this work happens as quickly as possible.”
With regards to the Erin subway, Mikhail says, after the initial cleaning and opening the officials found that the walls needed to be replastered.
“The wet and damp weather has caused a delay in getting this work concluded. However, the officials will be on-site on Monday 29 May again to find a way forward.”
He adds that people have moved back into the Erin subway.
“But efforts are being made to offer the occupants alternatives and to inform them that this is not a place to live,” he says.
As to the occupied Belmont and Eureka subways, Mikhail shares that Social Development and Law Enforcement regularly visit the occupants, offering them alternative accommodations.
“If the offers for assistance and accommodation continue to be denied, the City will have no choice but to approach the courts for an eviction order. No public space can be reserved for public use.”
In the meantime, Lanham’s patience, and arguably that of the rest of the residents, is running out.
Lanham says that when she reports what she describes as an “ongoing saga” to the ward councillor, she is told to send a C3 via the City’s online service request platform.
“I am no longer prepared to send C3s – there is a system that works and needs to be done properly,” she says.
