If readers recall the uproar over the trolley situation in Roodepoort CBD back in the day, the Record’s February editions in 1984 published the different opinions over it.
At the time the City Council argued that the trolleys are being left on the street and were dirtying the place, nevermind causing danger for traffic, and they they said that they therefore should be taken away. Shopping centres were fined for leaving their trolleys all over the place, some paying as much as R2 000 to get their seized trolleys back.
An elderly man wrote in a letter to the Record (Pick of the Post, February 1984) that he wouldn’t mind if trolleys weren’t available during his weekly trips to town; if he can carry his shopping bags by himself for the few metres between the shop and his car, so can everyone else. He cleverly added that some of the more hefty residents that shop in the CBD can do with a bit of exercise.
The Florida branch of the Housewives’ League (yes, that existed) said that they would support whatever decision City Council makes and added a few suggestions of their own to the mix.
Although they sympathised with the local shopping centres, they suggested that staff should be hired to take care of the trolleys on the street, or that trolleys should be made available for hire at, say, 50 cents a trip. 50 cents!
It seems Roodepoort’s pensioners also had an easier time in the 80s. Checkers had been famous for their Checkers Senior Citizens Discount card at the time, and in February 1984, had raised their pensioners’ discount to seven per cent during Pension Week every month. Every resident that was over 65 years, whether they were drawing pension at the time or not, was eligible for such a card.
