RAISING INVESTOR AND BUSINESS CONFIDENCE

Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba of the City of Johannesburg, delivered his State of the City Address on the 2 May 2018.

Since taking over the City of Johannesburg, Mayor Herman Mashaba has committed his administration to transforming Johannesburg’s inner city to make it a prosperous, inclusive and safe place for residents to live and work. Significantly the multiparty coalition government has had to be aligned to overcome enormous backlogs, to grow the economy, create jobs and provide quality services to all residents.

Mashaba said that the current focus of the City will be on ‘Diphetogo’, a Sotho word meaning real or fundamental change. “Diphetogo can be directly interpreted to mean real change, transformational change. It captures the idea that change is not an event but a process,” said Mashaba.

He added that it was necessary to “listen to our residents to define the areas where this change must be prioritised over the long-term.” Mashaba said, “The sense of growing change is indeed evidenced in the facilitated investment which continues to be made in the City.” He reported that at this mid-year point, R5.6 billion of external investment has been injected into the City. This investment is notable as it has already exceeded the annual target, and the achievement of any full prior year in the City’s history.

“This”, he said, “is an indication of the business sector’s growing confidence, in the City’s future prospects.”
Mashaba commented that the job of stimulating economic growth of the City is the most essential task of this government.

“The best intervention that we can achieve is to raise investor and business confidence in our City. Johannesburg has always been the economic engine of our country, despite national government having failed to achieve the basic conditions that inspire confidence. Businesses must receive a stable supply of services; the road network must be improved; the rule of law must prevail; and Johannesburg must be an attractive place to set up business.”

Reflecting on the previous SMME hubs which were meant to stimulate economic growth he said that they were of little value. He added, “Services were outsourced, and nobody seemed concerned that businesses did not grow and employ more people. They were used as a boxticking exercise.”

Consequently, new Opportunity Centres are being launched. The first has been opened in Marshal Street in the Inner City. The remainder will be launched in the coming weeks. The aim of the centres is to provide a basket of services that will achieve the empowerment of small businesses. This includes registering companies on the City’s supplier database and training to improve the ability of these SMMEs to tender for
City projects.

In addition, the City intends to expand its artisan training programmes so that the youth can learn trades such as bricklaying, plumbing, tiling and electrical services.

The City will also rollout WIFI, focussing on areas which will drive economic growth. The City has launched A Re Sebetseng â€" which in seSotho means “Let Us Work”.

Through this programme people have volunteered their time, alongside government, to clean the spaces around which they live, collecting 245 000 tonnes of waste. Of note, this campaign has been joined by corporate Johannesburg, including Coca-Cola, Anglo Ashanti, Adcock Ingram, Avis Fleet and others. Other
partners include Miss Earth SA, universities, places of worship, ratepayers’ associations, community organisations and the international community.

Mashaba commented that it is, “through A Re Sebetseng that we will continue to unite people in our City by a common cause of volunteerism and a spirit of community, shared between all people.” 

For the full speech visit www.joburg.org.za

CURRENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Among his successes, Mayor Mashaba reported that since coming into office, the City has:

1. Repaired 181 000 potholes across the City and resurfaced 520 kilometres of roads
2. Dug up and re-cabled 120 traffic signal intersections to reduce their down time, arising from rain and electrical storms
3. Converted over 50 kilometres of gravel roads in informal settlements to tarred roads.
4. The implementation of this policy at 120 of the busiest traffic intersections has reduced traffic light down time by 72%.
5. Complete refurbishment of 39 sub-stations. Conducted repairs and maintenance on 37 transformers.
6. Provided 300 youth with artisan training, which will begin shortly
7. Extended operating hours at a total of 13 clinics in the City, offering after-hours health care to the communities of Zandspruit, Doornkop, Protea North, Dobsonville Gardens, Slovoville, Nancefield, Turffontein and Doornfontein to name a few.
8. Recorded over 87 000 patient visits at these clinics during the extended hours, and a resulting decline in the waiting times during ordinary hours of operation.
9. Extended the operating hours of 11 libraries in the City, so that more people can have access to a safe place to learn, study, read or prepare to enter the job market.
10. Achieved the processing of 95% of submitted building plans within 30 - 60 days.
11. Delivered 5145 title deeds to the residents of Johannesburg. Giving over 5200 of the poorest residents the dignity of home ownership.
12. Constructed 1 089 new RDP homes, which represent new housing opportunities to be provided to residents.
13. Launched Operation Buya Mthetho â€" Bring back the law. This led to the formation of a multi-disciplinary law enforcement unit that conducts raids throughout the City addressing violations of our by-laws, environmental health and building codes and the illegal consumption of services.
14. Launched the K9 Narcotics Unit at the end of 2016, which continues to grow from strength to strength. To date the unit has achieved 1 193 arrests, recovering 123 illegal firearms, 136 kilogrammes of drugs and over 1000 hijacked vehicles.
15. Achieved, through Joburg Water, the rollout of water provision in informal settlements that will result in 2500 households receiving tapped water for the first time.
16. Joburg Water has refurbished 37 kilometres of the City’s water pipes.
17. 55 000 VIP toilets in informal settlements, and 5 266 chemical toilets are being serviced on average twice per week
18. 1 400 workers will go from receiving R2 200 a month with no benefits under Jozi@ Work to R6 000 per month, including full benefits, and receiving the dignity of work they deserve.