The City of Johannesburg’s multi-party government which has been rocked by political squabbles and acrimonious battles has sought to reassure residents that it’s on track with service delivery targets.
Joburg mayor, Mpho Phalatse, flanked by Mayoral Committee members, gave an update on the work the multi-party government has done for the past eight months. This is amid growing calls from the opposition and minority parties for the mayor to be ousted through a vote of no confidence, for what they call service delivery failures, and lack of accountability.
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Phalatse says the multi-party government in South Africa’s economic capital is strong, united, and agile.
“Has it been easy — no? But notwithstanding our differences, we all agree on the changes that are needed to repair and rebuild this City of great potential. And this mission we are on comes at a critical time for our City and residents.”
She says during her mayoral address eight months ago — the multi-party government outlined 38-key interventions for the remainder of the financial year which ended on the 30th of June. Phalatse says of the 38 interventions, about 25 have been achieved. She says they are working to overcome inherited infrastructure challenges.
“The City is burdened with an R300-billion infrastructure backlog but only has a capital budget provision of only R7, 7-billion, the same amount that Eskom spent on diesel in the first six months of this year. We are nonetheless working around the clock to meet the target of getting IPPs online in the City. This will ensure that Joburgers and the economy can be guaranteed reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity supply.”
Reduce cable theft
Infrastructure MMC Michael Sun, says when the multi-party government took over, they undertook to reduce cable theft by 20% by the end of this financial year. He says improved security is beginning to yield positive results.
“Up to date, we have seen the arrest of 193 suspects involved in vandalisation of infrastructure and cable theft being arrested and put behind bars. Nine suspects convicted to 82 years direct imprisonment.”
Bus availability
Transport MMC, Funzi Ngobeni, says they’ve managed to spend almost R50 million to refurbish 105 Metrobus fleets. He says this will enhance the daily bus availability as the demand for public transport increases.
“Over the next three years, Metrobus will undertake a further three year 90 million bus refurbishment programme. We are particularly excited by this programme.”
Fixing hostels
Human Settlements MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso, says in March this year, they launched the construction of about 4 000 mixed housing units in Riverside View near Diepsloot. He says work is underway to fix dilapidated and vandalised hostels.
“At Meadowlands hostel, the department has concluded its studies for sewer upgrades since it has been a challenge for many years. Even the new units cannot be allocated due to bulk sewer connections. At Dube hostel, we have refurbished 24 units. 416 units were developed by the provincial government. JOSHCO was appointed to refurbish 190 units so far. At Madala hostel the redevelopment will start soon after we have relocated all residents out of the existing building that we will need to demolish.”
In February, the Multi-Party Government re-launched its integrated bylaw enforcement and revenue enhancement campaign — Operation Buya Mthetho — targeting delinquent ratepayers. This resulted in the City achieving its target of collecting up to R4 billion per month.
