State of the City: A warm fuzzy feeling of déjà vu

I had a déjà vu moment when I bravely took hold of the 32-page glossy booklet (to impress who, I wonder?) that contains the carefully manufactured Ekurhuleni State of the City address.

After all, I have read the same words, containing the same promises and lofty ambitions, many times over the last couple of years, albeit under different guises to suit the occasion.

Therefore, for those are brave or bored enough to tackle the 18 736 word document (which includes condolences, congratulations, tributes to martyrs and who knows what else), do not expect to find anything earth-shattering to move your soul to new heights of endless excitement regarding the metro’s future.

The address resembles a State of the City cake — right at the bottom of this painstaking creation is the true reality and taste of the metro’s affairs, yet the shoddy flavour of questionable service delivery is masked by layer upon layer of cleverly phrased propaganda.

We keep on hearing about the metro’s plans to re-urbanise, re-industrialise, re-generate, re-mobilise and re-govern.

We keep on reading about the same challenges, listen to the same excuses and are weighed down by the struggles of the past, even though we live in the year 2015!

I wonder how many people really know what the metro is talking about when it comes to its ambitious (but probably impractical) strategies.

I’m sure all those who are still unemployed, who keep experiencing bad service and who are tired of the unsafe state of the city don’t really care about these five strategic pillars.

Action is what is required, not mere words.

This country, and this metro, need passionate leaders, who will lead with integrity, moral fibre and a deep conviction of the land’s current failure.

The major focus, once again, as before, reflected on the need to advance the struggle for a better life for all citizens, but, honestly, the five-year plan is still not reflecting what is happening at grassroots level.

Why has the metro, for example, not done anything to develop the land along Trichards Road (where the old prison was built), which is becoming the home of numerous squatters?

Why is nothing really being done to rehabilitate the Boksburg Lake? Why is crime, by all accounts, escalating, causing residents to live in fear?

We will not even talk about the debacle around potholes, sewage spills, water leaks and electricity outages (not load-shedding), which reflect on poor maintenance.

The metro believes the way to pursue a prosperous city is to advance a social cohesion society through strengthening social maturity.

While it is wonderful to hear the talk about the need for continued examination by all on the path towards maturity, I am afraid there is still very little social cohesion judging by paramedics being robbed when attending a patient, and when racism in all forms keeps rearing its ugly head.

And, sadly, despite the metro’s efforts, not a lot can be done to save its citizens from the Eskom crisis which will overflow into escalating tariff hikes. Talk about harming the noble quest for maturity!

Yes, this country is apparently losing billions per month because of load-shedding, which will ultimately also impact on our metro’s lofty aerotropolis and manufacturing plans.

So it is all good and well that the metro is pushing for a delivering, capable and sustainable city, but reality also needs to be acknowledged.

After all, we would like to think we live in a socially mature age of social cohesion, but the truth is far removed from this fantasy.

One of the key shortfalls in this quest for a mature society is the metro’s failure to address a continuing moral collapse, where the sanctity of life and good, old-fashioned values are of little concern.

While the metro seeks to create more opportunities for the youth to prosper, the sometimes lawless, disorderly and disrespectful conduct seen among the youth is, sadly, not addressed.

To return to that bottom layer of our proverbial cake: one needs to dig deep, through the muddy waters of empty promises, to find that the state of the city has a bitter aftertaste.