A perfect day for a walk

A sunny morning was well spent walking to work on Car Free Day. Others out and about on the pavements were friendly; birds twittered and trees blossomed.
IT was a perfect day to walk to work: the sun was bright, the skies were blue, and a slightly chilly wind kept the sweat off the brow.

Joe Uwsivane mans his well-stocked roadside stallJoe Uwsivane mans his well-stocked roadside stallI have previously used a mountain bike to get to work, and an electric bike on another occasion, so now it seemed the only unexplored option on this car-free day was to walk to work. The 5km walk took me an hour-and-a-quarter, with several stops to talk to people along the way.

It was a pleasant walk. I was able to greet security guards whom I would normally shoot by in my car. But I was also able to see how much litter flaps around on the grassy verges along the roads. And how many manhole covers are missing, posing dangerous risks, particularly at night when black, gaping holes would not be visible.

I was in good company. Transport portfolio head Rehana Moosajee kicked off Transport Month on 3 October with a 5km walk around the CBD.

She said while walking: “Today is all about celebrating transport and we do so by actually encouraging people by taking ownerships of the streets. It is so refreshing walking through the city, seeing how is has transformed and developed over the years. Chancellor House is absolutely amazing.”

Various events have taken place over the month, culminating on 31 October with the City hosting a “Know your city tour”, when more than 100 taxi and bus drivers will participate in a tour across the city. The City is keen to encourage more people out of their cars, to either bicycle or walk to work.

Fruit and sweet stall
Joe Uwsivane, who has a large fruit and sweet stall in Napier Road, was busy wrapping small packages of cookies when I stopped to chat. A new palisade fence has just been erected along this section of road, and when the company across the road did this, they created an indented section for him to conveniently place his stall, he says. He stores his unsold goods at the company premises every night.

I pass a homeless man in Napier Road twice a day in my car. He lives on the street, an electrical box demarcating his “home”. I have previously stopped and given him gloves, a jacket and assorted clothing. Today he was wrapped up in his blanket, only his feet protruding, sleeping across the road from his “home”. I would have stopped and chatted if he’d been awake.

Then the legs have to start working, up Loch Avenue, a hill about a kilometre long. But the gardens are full of blossoms, the birds are twittering, and I largely have the pavements to myself.

Just over the freeway bridge in St Andrew’s Road two women are resting against the barrier, brooms cradled against their shoulders and reams of clean rubbish bags tied around their waists. Pinky Riet and Rose Magasa are employed by the City as street cleaners, a thankless task. Rose says although the work is hard, it pays double the job she had previously, working as a cashier.

Several blocks further along and another fruit stall. This stall holder repairs shoes as well as sells fruit but complains that he doesn’t like his location, he doesn’t get enough custom. Wishing to remain anonymous, he says he would like to have his own shop.

Then it’s downhill, the final stretch, dodging several more bottomless manholes.

It was a satisfying walk, but although Moosajee would be glad that my car was absent from the roads for a day, I will be getting into my car tomorrow to take the trip to work. But, I may consider using a Rea Vaya bus when it kicks into operation in future in a neighbourhood near me.