South African authorities have begun uprooting a forest of barricades put up across hundreds of Johannesburg roads by residents trying to keep criminals out of their suburbs. South Africa’s commercial capital is widely seen as one of the world’s most dangerous cities and the illegal barriers have become an increasingly common sight over the last decade. Teams of city workers used cutting tools and welding guns to remove sections of steel fencing on Thursday, a week after a deadline passed for residents to get legal approval for the 1,100 gates, fences and swing barriers on city streets, or have them removed. “(These residents) haven’t made any attempt to legalise the booms and the gates that they have erected,” said Liam Clarke, operations manager for Johannesburg’s roads agency. Authorities say they have received about 300 applications from residents hoping to keep their blockades around their so-called “gated communities,” which tend to be seen as safer and more exclusive. Full Story
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