The eastern Joburg suburb of Bruma will enter a new, more upbeat era when the Bruma Lake upgrade and renewal project is completed over the course of the next few months.
The project, undertaken for the City by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), has transformed the polluted, foul-smelling Bruma Lake into a naturally flowing watercourse surrounded on both sides by newly established floodplains and recreational parkland which is in the process of being landscaped.
The project has improved the flow of water, while increasing the natural aeration and filtration of water by plants along the vegetated banks. Access for cleaning of debris has been improved, and ecological linkages between the upstream and downstream areas restored.
The R65-million project started June 2014. In the first phase the Jukskei River was diverted to allow the lake to be drained and the silt to dry so that a new channel could be built for the water to run through. The second phase, currently under way, involves the conversion of sections of the reclaimed land into a recreational park.
The photos that follow, taken in the first week of May, give an idea of what the new public space will look like once completed. Click on the images to view larger versions, and use the arrows to scroll through them: