On Friday October 29, 2021 the Rosebank Management District hosted the first ever Rosebank Transport Indaba at the Southern Sun Rosebank Hotel. The event was planned together and coordinated by In Your Pocket City Guides, publisher of Johannesburg In Your Pocket .
The Indaba aimed to critically assess Rosebank’s current transport needs and create an actionable template for its future transport integration by bringing together key stakeholders from the transport and municipal development sectors.
The Rosebank Management District is the first City Improvement District in Joburg to host a stakeholder-led engagement of this kind. The Indaba was envisaged as the beginning of an ongoing strategic dialogue that will enable deeper and more sustainable collaboration between stakeholders actively engaged in the transport sector in Rosebank. It is also hoped that the Rosebank Transport Indaba can act as an example for how other neighbourhoods can tackle transport challenges through successful stakeholder collaboration.
Rosebank Precinct Manager Lerato Khiba explains that the rapidly growing Rosebank precinct is facing several transport challenges that require collaboration between a broad mix of stakeholders in order to be successfully managed: “Rosebank is not an island. The Rosebank Transport Indaba sought to highlight existing transport challenges in the precinct to relevant stakeholders, enabling a platform to explore and discuss possible solutions. Rosebank grapples with several transport issues relating to minibus taxis, e-hailing services and infrastructure decay among others”.
Delegates at the Indaba were a great mix drawn from the local property, transport, security, retail and logistics industries as well as municipal and provincial representatives. These included representatives from Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), City of Joburg Transport department, Gautrain, Intaprop, AI Surveillance, Takealot, Faraday Taxi Association, Rosebank Residents Association and the MMC for Development Planning Cllr Thapelo Amad.
The day-long event included a variety of presentations, a workshop session and a walk through the neighbourhood. During the walk stakeholders got to see first hand the different issues affecting Rosebank’s transport network such as illegal parking, a lack of dedicated spaces for e-hailing and delivery vehicles and the grossly undersized Rosebank Taxi Rank, and to hear from those stakeholders actively involved in dealing with them.
By bringing different stakeholders together to engage with each other on an equal footing face-to-face, the Indaba successfully set in motion a renewed dedication between the public and private stakeholders for deeper collaboration. It was agreed that as the district continues to grow stakeholders will work together to ensure that the transport infrastructure is improved sufficiently to match Rosebank’s status as Joburg’s most successful, accessible and diverse City Improvement District.
“I believe the Rosebank Transport Indaba was a successful call for action to stakeholders to collaboratively find solutions and re-imagine the future of Rosebank” says Lerato Khiba.
Here is what the media had to say about the Rosebank Transport Indaba
Collaboration highlighted as key to enhance transport in Rosebank – Engineering News
The many voices of Rosebank join towards transport solutions – Rosebank Killarney Gazette
A closer look at Rosebank’s transport system – Rosebank Killarney Gazette
Up close and personal with Rosebank’s transport infrastructure – Rosebank Killarney Gazette