Off track: The Rea Vaya Sandton eyesore and the R770k toilet

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13-11-2024
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News 24
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• The Atholl Square Rea Vaya station in Sandton has been idle for years, racking up bills for security guards and a mobile toilet.
• It is one of two unfinished stations in the Rea Vaya network.
• The Johannesburg Development Agency said R32 million had been set aside for the stations, and it appears more than R770 000 has been spent on just one toilet. 

Delays in the construction of Johannesburg's multibillion rand Rea Vaya public transport system have seen ratepayers fork out more than R750 000 on rent for one portable toilet.  

For the past four years, the Atholl Square Rea Vaya station on Katherine Street in Sandton has stood idle and under construction. Its gates remain closed to the public because the bus rapid transit network – first established in 2009 – is not yet complete.   

At the construction site, a lone chemical toilet has become its only mainstay.  

This station is one of two Rea Vaya nodes which are unfinished, with R32 million allocated by funders to get them operational. 

While City of Johannesburg officials were mum on exactly how much the toilet cost taxpayers, News24 obtained a quote from Sanitech for the same model of toilet the City has hired for the past four years.

The Mondo portable toilet costs R528 per day, including the collection of the toilet after it has been used. This translates to R192 720 to maintain the toilet every year, and over four years, this amount would total R770 880.  

Rea Vaya director Benny Makgoga said the completion of the station was handled by the Johannesburg Development Agency. 

"The project has not been officially handed over to [the transport department] for the services to operate. The cost of construction includes the allocation of a Sanitech portable toilet and security services," he said.

DA councillor Tyrell Meyers, said the building of the station started seven years ago. 

"That station is part of what they call the Rea Vaya Phase 1C, which basically runs from the metro centre in Brampton to Hillbrow on the Louisville corridor."

He said:

It runs on most of the Louisville corridor, and you'll find the same thing with all the stations. They put sandbags there because they say sandbags prevent them from being vandalised. I don't believe that works.

"There's all these delays because they were waiting for the procurement of buses and to get signed off with the local taxi association. But that's not the end of that," he said.  

He added that the signing and the finalisation of the agreement with the taxi association caused a lot of delays. 

"There are always delays, and I think it's related to the funding of the project. The financial state of the City in general is not great. And for the last couple of years, there have been unfunded budgets and huge budget slashes. 

"I think for financial reasons, they have basically stopped the unrolling of that BRT phase. And what I've been told by them is that they expect to, hopefully in March next year, be back up and running," he said. 

"I'm not holding my breath that they're going to start in March. I'm expecting them to possibly cite budgetary issues once again as a reason for delaying," he added.

Johannesburg Development Agency spokesperson Elias Nkabinde said the station, located on Rivonia Road, is part of a larger plan involving 12 sites, with 10 already completed. The final two stations are under construction, with completion expected by 2025.

"The project was phased according to budget availability, beginning with the construction of a blueprint station on Katherine Street, which set the groundwork for the rest of the project. Following this, we focused on the Watt Interchange, one of the City's largest infrastructure developments by both scope and scale. This interchange is essential to the Phase 1C trunk route, acting as a crucial artery to facilitate efficient Rea Vaya operations," he said. 

He added that the last two remaining stations in Sandton are, respectively, at 99% complete for Katherine Street and 39% complete for Rivonia Road. 

Nkabinde added that R32 million had been allocated for the two incomplete Rea Vaya routes.