Joburg has great plans in store for development in 2017, says executive mayor Herman Mashaba.
The festive season provides us with the opportunity to celebrate how far we have come both individually and collectively. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past year, as well as to energise ourselves for the year ahead. It is also a time for Joburgers from different communities and religious backgrounds to celebrate days and festivities of great importance to them and their families.
As citizens of our great city, we live in very exciting times. This year you, our residents, voted for real change in the way in which Johannesburg is managed by choosing to entrust the future of Africa's leading city in the hands of a new team, a team committed to rooting out graft and wasteful expenditure of public resources. A clean administration committed to quality service delivery, stimulating job creation and promoting the best interests of all Joburgers.
Reflecting on our first few months in office, we are delighted by the positive response of residents across our city. Although we inherited a budget and Integrated Development Plan that perpetuate a business-as-usual approach that voters rejected, we are working tirelessly to implement change.
We are working towards growing the city's economy by a minimum of 5percent by 2021. Without this growth the joblessness of 891000 residents cannot be overturned. We need to create an enabling environment for businesses, especially small businesses, to flourish and thereby become employers of our people.
As of November 21, 2016, there are seven small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) hubs throughout the city and our plan is to expand this to 12 SME hubs over the next year. Since August 25, the City has provided support to 2895 SMEs, which is 1000 more than was achieved in the preceding three months.
Our “Service with Pride” campaign is directly linked to making our city great and aims to create a professional civil service. We have initiated a skills audit to ensure that every manager in this City is in their position because of what they know and not who they know.
We have declared corruption public enemy number one and have appointed Shadrack Sibiya as the head of our internal investigations unit in the City. Mr Sibiya must investigate any member of my government, including me, whenever he deems it necessary. My directive has been that past cases need to be re-investigated to ensure findings were correct and recommendations were carried out. I have also asked that tenders be reviewed with a particular focus on ensuring that we discover any tenders that were awarded to City employees, councillors or their families.
Housing remains one of the City's biggest challenges and we undertook to produce a list of all semi-completed housing units within the City. This list has been produced and we will approach the provincial government for funding to complete over 3000 units where work has ground to a halt. City Power has initiated the process of electrifying these units to ensure that their handover to assigned beneficiaries can be fast-tracked.
I am in possession of a housing list bearing the details of 79000 residents – a first for our city. We have initiated an audit of the list so that its integrity is beyond question. In the very near future I will unveil the mechanisms that the City will roll out to ensure applicants can know where they are positioned on the housing list.
We are also fast-tracking the delivery of title deeds to our residents. We have already processed 2000 title deeds which are being handed over to beneficiaries.
A great city also provides its residents with access to quality healthcare. Clinics currently operate from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. This is wholly inadequate. We have launched a pilot project for extended hours at the Princess Clinic in Roodepoort which allows people to go to work and still get to the clinic on time. This clinic now operates from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and Saturdays from 7am to 1.30pm. The pilot project is working and once the final assessment of the project has been completed we will consider rolling it out to other clinics in the city.
I have launched the City's Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme. It involves an extensive public-private partnership with the Hollard Foundation that will provide 400 facilities and 734 qualified ECD practitioners.
We have established a specialised K9 Drug Unit within the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD). An additional 19 dogs have been purchased for this unit and are undergoing training. This unit has already achieved two major drug busts.
I see the revitalisation of the inner city as key to our future success. We have already doubled the cleaning shifts of Pikitup in the inner city, including a night shift to serve businesses operating at night. The JMPD has also invested a massive presence in the inner city. I want to see rundown buildings turned into quality low-cost housing for our residents and affordable rental spaces for small businesses.
I can give you the assurance that there is much more to come in 2017. The future of our city, and indeed our country, depends on a collective and tireless effort to realise the goals we have set ourselves. Because when Johannesburg works, South Africa will work.
I would like to wish our Christian residents a blessed Christmas. Over this period, please also reflect on your blessings and spare a thought for those less fortunate.
Keep safe and drive responsibly over this period. Our emergency services and JMPD will be on duty throughout the holiday period. 2017 will be an eventful and exciting year as we continue to move Johannesburg forward. The city and its people have an abundance of potential waiting to be unlocked and I am confident that working together we can achieve great heights.
I look forward to continuing this journey with you.