City of Johannesburg's Paid Parking System
In a media briefing at City Council yesterday, representatives from the City of Johannesburg had the audacity to inform the press that public consultation had in fact taken place with regards to the paid parking scheme being rolled out by the JMPD and private company, Ace Parking.
This is simply untrue. If it weren't for my colleague in Parkhurst, Councillor Tim Truluck, I wouldn't have known about JMPD's intentions to commence with paid parking in Melville from the 1st of June and to then roll it out in two further suburbs in my Ward: Greenside and Parkview.
The City Officials glibly stated that it was the Ward Councillors' duty to take information they receive from the City and pass it on to residents, suggesting that it is we who have not done our jobs!
Had I received any information or notification on the paid parking scheme, I would have informed the residents and especially businesses in my ward immediately because I know that they would have a lot to say about the system and how it should be implemented.
I am not opposed to paid parking per se. In fact, in some of our nodes it could help us to combat congestion and the illegal parking that has become endemic. Normally law-abiding citizens flout the law daily because there is no visibility or law enforcement by the JMPD, so much so that drivers have come to believe that it is legal to park on pavements and in loading zones or disabled parking. If the JMPD were doing their job in the first place, there wouldn't be such problems of congestion and illegal parking.