Prison gate draws flak from residents
The increased use of a Pollsmoor prison gate in a Tokai avenue is a source of growing congestion, speeding and noise unsuitable for a residential road, say residents.
The fed-up Glenbrae Avenue residents say they want the gate - which is about ten to 15 metres from the nearest home - restricted to weekday daytime use by Pollsmoor residents only, which was the case prior to the outbreak of Covid.
A resident - who did not want to be named as they claimed to have been threatened by some of those using the gate in the past and they feared further intimidation - said the gate was mostly closed, barring use by a school bus and a few pedestrians when they moved in in 1999.
“Two years later, it was opened for vehicles. However, the use of it was very restricted. It was closed in the early afternoon, always closed at night and over weekends.”
That had been the case until lockdown in 2020, said the resident.
“We were told the gate would remain closed for the full duration of Covid so we were quite shocked when it opened in July 2021.
“We were told the reason for reopening the gate was due to fear of the 2021 taxi violence affecting Pollsmoor residents as taxis pool at the main gate on Steenberg Road and to observe Covid protocols, to separate staff from visitors, allowing staff entry at the Glenbrae Avenue gate.”
The reopening had been done without considering the impact on those living in Glenbrae Avenue, said the resident.
“We have had searches of vehicles carried out by Pollsmoor’s armed guards outside our homes. We have strangers parked in our driveway day and night, including taxis waiting to access the prison. There is a ‘no taxi’ sign at the beginning of the road, yet we have taxis up and down this road.”
According to the residents, the gate is open 24/7 for Pollsmoor residents and staff, public and private transport and deliveries.
Allen Kelly, who has lived in Glenbrae Avenue since the 1980s, said traffic was terrible now. He believes the only solution is for the prison to use another entry point.
Another resident who wishes to remain anonymous, moved their family with two young children a year ago, said: “There is no reason post-Covid why it wasn't closed again. We have loud noises coming in here at 10 and 10.30 at night. People with their windows down, music blaring with absolutely no consideration for the residents, and this road is too busy. It wasn't built for this amount of traffic and won’t be able to withstand this volume of traffic.”
However, according to Rob Quintas, the mayoral committee member for urban mobility, Glenbrae Avenue is no ordinary suburban street.
The road has a wider roadway surface and road reserve than others nearby and would be common in areas with commercial, business, industrial, shopping and mixed-use residential developments. Access to a prison would be suited to such a class of road, he said.
“We are of the view that the avenue should be managed to achieve the objective of this higher classification rather than restricted.”
Taxis were prohibited from using the road, but traffic services had “limited resources” to enforce that, he said.
Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Candice van Reenen said Glenbrae Avenue was one of three entrances to Pollsmoor, the other two being a pedestrian gate in Westlake and the main entrance off Steenberg Road.
“The Glenbrae Avenue entrance is used as an access gate for officials and their families who live and work at the Pollsmoor premises. It is not used for official deliveries as the main gate is used as the primary entrance. Transport operators such as taxis access the Pollsmoor facility through the main entrance as well. Whereas departmental transportation is used through the Glenbrae Avenue access point to transport children of officials to the various schools.”
Construction had restricted use of the Glenbrae entrance in the past, but that work was now complete, she said.
A meeting to discuss residents’ complaints about the reckless and negligent driving of prisoner transport trucks had to be postponed because of a diphtheria outbreak in the prison in November last year. Whether another meeting will be rescheduled has still not been confirmed.
