He was speaking to Caxton East and South Rand editors as part of a press briefing.
“When we took office in 2011, we did so on the back of the following priorities and commitments, namely build local economies to create more employment and sustainable livelihoods; improve local public services and broaden access to them; build united, non-racial and integrated safer communities; promote community participation in local government; and build a more effective, accountable and clean local government that works closely with provincial and national government,” said the mayor.
“In pursuit of these election priorities, we worked with various sectors, stakeholders and constituencies to revise and come up with an inclusive and broad-based Growth and Development Strategy (GDS 2055).”
He said this strategy was anchored on five strategic imperatives, namely to Re-Urbanise (to achieve sustainable urban integration); Re-Industrialise (to achieve job creating economic-growth); Re-Generate (to achieve environmental well-being); Re-Mobilise (to achieve social empowerment); and Re-Govern (to achieve effective co-operative governance).
The mayor pointed out that effective implementation of these strategic imperatives should result in a future that can be defined in three inter-connected ways.
These are A Delivering City (envisaged to take route between 2012 and 2020, the form of which will be a well-managed, resourced and financially sustainable city); A Capable City (between 2020 and 2030, characterised by an inclusive industrial economy and meaningful reduction in unemployment and poverty); and A Sustainable City (between 2030 and 2055, where we shall have a clean, green and sustainable African manufacturing and logistics complex in a liveable and dynamic city, highly integrated in its city region – Gauteng).
“It is on this background that we went to the Lekgotla to reflect on how far we have come, where we are now, and how do we do things differently towards 2016 – which is the end of this present term of office.”
The mayor said the theme at Lekgotla of ‘Acceleration, Alignment and Responsiveness towards the End of the Term’ proved critical, which has forced the metro to come up with a clear programme on the realisation of this theme.
“Thus, in line with this theme, we have agreed to align our work with the 10 pillars of the Province to modernise, and transform and reindustrialise the Gauteng City Region over the next five to 15 years.
“We are going to be active players in this formation.”
The pillars consists of radical economic transformation; decisive spatial transformation; accelerated social transformation; transformation of the State and government; modernisation of the public service; modernisation of the economy; modernisation of the human settlement and urban development; modernisation of public transport infrastructure; re-industrialisation of Gauteng; and taking the lead in Africa’s new industrial revolution.
“The premier has given us a mandate to lead in the area of Township Economies, Aerotropolis and Re-industrialisation. We then need to identify areas in which Province is willing to assist us.
“We have also resolved that we must engage more with our people. Our communication must be engineered with the target audience in mind. The only way we can earn credibility from our communities is by obviating uncertainty through communication.
“Critical in this area will be our much-improved Call Centre.”
The mayor said that the people of Ekurhuleni is not so much dissatisfied with service delivery, but rather that they need to be able to trust the city.
“Therefore, we realise the citizens must know that their trust in us is not misplaced and that we have their best interest at heart,” said the mayor.
“There is, therefore, a need to elevate our efforts in fighting corruption. Indeed progress has been made in some cases, but if we do not tighten things up – it will undermine our ambitions as a government.
“The involvement of SIU and our resolve to strengthen our internal audit department is producing the required results.
“We have further agreed that we must reduce the number of meetings and do more work on the ground.
“Response times by departments to Call Centre queries remain are our Achilles heel. Improvement on turnaround is urgent because good work is now happening at the call centre – which is our nerve centre for communicating with our people.
“However, the response by departments still needs more attention and we have resolved that our departments must come to the party.”
The mayor highlighted the need for replacement and repair of ageing infrastructure to stabilise service delivery reliability.
“We cannot be having these continuous major water and electricity outages. Our people deserve quality and sustainable services. This is a major priority and funds must be allocated accordingly.”
In order for the metro to strategically attract investment and add value to land, the mayor said that the metro is finalising the release of key strategic land parcels.
“We have resolved that Strategic Land Parcels and spatial planning are key to such investment. This will enable the city to engage directly with a range of potential investors that will assist in bring modernised spatial morphology.
“The new morphology of Ekurhuleni improves the use of public spaces and unsure safety. This is achieved through decisive urban design that transforms the urban landscape of the city.
“Through the introduction of Regional Spatial Development Frameworks the metro seeks to decisively transform space through a modern spatial development model.
“This is done through the Municipal Spatial Development Framework that provides six urban planning management areas. The six regions although not administrative, they provide clear framework for city planning and urban management.”
Regarding the economic-growth of the metro, the mayor added that Ekurhuleni’ regional economy has continued to demonstrate resilience wherein in 2011, 27 927 jobs were lost, compared to 16 850 and 34 900 jobs created respectively in 2012 and 2013.
“However, there remains a major concern in respect of metro’s performance in the creation of short-term jobs compared to the city’s inherent capacity.
“It should be internalised and embraced that the Ekurhuleni economy is at the centre of Premier David Makhura’s strategic programme, hence, the implementation of flagship projects such as the revitalisation of township economic, IRPTN, revitalisation of manufacturing sector, Aerotropolis development, and urban regeneration.
“While we continue to plan and explore other interventions that could prove effective in redressing the current socio-economic challenges facing our city, Community Works Programme, EPWP, as well as a comprehensive Food Bank programme, should be implemented without delay in order to provide a safety-net to the poorest-of-the-poor in the region.
“Indeed, I am the first to admit that we have achieved quite a lot since 2011, but we believe that we can do more.”
