Crime, load shedding high on City of Joburg priorities

Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Kabelo Gwamanda says the city’s main priorities remain tackling crime and mitigating the impact of load shedding on households.

He delivered his maiden State of the City Address at the Johannesburg City Council today.

Analysis of the address:

The address was delivered at a time when residents find themselves very unhappy as the city is riddled with crime and darkness that fills their daily lives.

Gwamanda cited crime, unemployment, gender-based violence and lack of basic access to services like water and electricity as being some of the major issues affecting residents.

He told councillors in the house, that the city is sitting with unpaid supplier invoices for over R6 billion. He says, the government of local unity has approved a short-term loan facility to begin to clear unpaid invoices.

“The city’s finances remained strained, following the tabling of a flawed budget by the multi-party government. By the end of June 2021, the government of local unity’s financial statements, reflected a healthy cash balance of R6.6 billion. However, upon our return in January 2023, when we took over, we found a near bankrupt government.”

The City of Johannesburg is expected to roll out solar panels for disadvantaged households to mitigate the impact of planned outages.

He says, the city will also procure more power from the Kelvin Power Station which is an independent power station. Currently, the city purchases 87 percent of power from Eskom, and Kelvin supplements the rest.

“Load shedding remains the biggest threats to our city. Power supply to residents and businesses is our priority. Mitigating the impact of planned outages, is a matter receiving our urgent attention through City Power. We have mandated City Power to extend our power purchase agreement with Kelvin Power Station by another three years.”

Gwamada says the migration of people to Johannesburg places strain on the resources and the delivery of services.

He says aging infrastructure is a major stumbling block to delivering uninterrupted power supply to residents.

“We cannot deny infrastructure challenges that contributes to water supply in the city. This is high on my agenda. Johannesburg Water continues to invest in building and upgrading the bulk water infrastructure. The city will implement a geyser installation accredited training programme in all regions of the city.”

Residents of Johannesburg have been complaining about increased levels of crime as a result of load shedding.

Gwamanda says the city plans to employ crime wardens to support police in this regard.

“Our people must feel safe at all times in this world class African city. We plan to procure about 2 000 crime wardens in Johannesburg. These dedicated individuals will work alongside law enforcement agencies and communities to strengthen crime prevention initiatives, improve community policing and overall enhance safety and security of our city.”