Executive mayor Clr Mzwandile Masina delivered the much-anticipated 2019 State of the City Address (Soca) on Wednesday.
Councillors, the media and residents from across Ekurhuleni assembled in the council chambers at the Germiston Civic Centre, eager to hear Masina’s plan to better the metro and the lives of those who live in it.
In his opening remarks, he paid tribute to the 157 people who lost their lives when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Addis Ababa recently.
He also sent his condolences to the families of those killed by the devastating Cyclone Idai which hit Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
“This year’s Soca is themed ‘Building a Local Economy that Grows in the Hands of the People’,” he said.
“This is in recognition of the fact that sustainable economic development can only be achieved when the economy is in the hands of the people.”
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Masina reminisced about the days he first took office when he and his team committed themselves to a clear plan of action to advance a pro-poor agenda, which was their binding philosophy.
“We defined this agenda as deliberate and systematic bias to roll-out service delivery and economic development opportunities in a manner that uplifts the poorest sections of the metro,” he recalled.
“Through an initiative called Siyaqhuba Mayoral Outreach Programme, launched in 2016, the administration adopted an interactive approach for executive and senior management to engage actively with residents of the metro.
“A young boy, unfortunately, died in 2017 after falling into a disused mineshaft in Jerusalem informal settlement in Boksburg.
“Following the tragic incident, through Siyaqhuba, we approached the Council for Geoscience and the Department of Mineral Resources with a request for all unused mineshafts in the metro to be closed.”
Masina announced that by the end of this year, six mineshafts in the metro will officially be closed, further stating the key objective was to build an efficient, clean, accountable and innovative administration that works firmly within the guidelines of legislation.
The metro has 119 identified informal settlements, which the mayor promised would all have walk-in bulk containers by June 2021.
This roll-out programme, which began earlier this month, is aimed at the eradication of all illegal dumping hotspots in all wards.
This programme will allow Masina and his administration to usher in an upscaled waste collection service.
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Regarding community-based recycling cooperatives, the metro is currently distributing tuk-tuks.
Over the past two years, the informal settlement electrification programme led to the installation of 33 236 photovoltaic lighting units.
During this time the metro ensured electricity connections in 8 981 households in the informal settlements of Langaville, Winnie Mandela, Gugulethu and Zamaland, Everest and Peter Mokaba.
The number of electrified households in informal settlements stands at 15 590 and an additional 6 926 informal households will be electrified by the end of June this year.
“During this time a 20-megalitre storage capacity for water was created and construction for an additional 45 megalitres will soon be completed,” said Masina.
“As part of the integration of informal settlements, the new administration reduced the household ratio of chemical toilets from 1:10 to 1:5.”
Meanwhile, the metro will aim to build 29 reservoirs from 2018/2019 to 2021, with a storage capacity of 550 megalitres.
“To date, three water storage reservoirs of the combined capacity of 55 megalitres have been constructed, namely the Nigel Tower, Palm Ridge Reservoir and Kempton Park Reservoir,” he said.
Construction of nine reservoirs with a combined storage capacity of 140 megalitres will commence before June, according to the executive mayor.
On the housing backlog faced by the residents, Masina said, “Housing is not only a basic human right, but a foundation on which dignity is built.
“During the year under review, the metro acquired 12 382 service stands.
“In the first year of our term of service, we acquired land for housing opportunities to be rolled out in six mega human settlement projects,” he said.
The metro completed a total of 26 000 low-cost houses in the past two years, while Provincial Government provided an additional 7 085 housing opportunities.
Germiston Social Housing Phase One and Delville Extension Nine were completed with a combined number of 256 units.
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The metro intends to complete an additional 200 by year end.
Speaking on healthcare issues, Masina reassured residents the metro has been in the pursuit of equitable healthcare.
“We currently have nine clinics within the metro that render 24-hour services,” he said.
“Furthermore, two clinics render 12-hour services while 18 clinics render Saturday services.
“All clinics within the metro are assessed in terms of the National Core Standards and achieved Ideal Clinic Status as follows: Platinum Status 18, Gold Status 55 and Silver Status 20.
“We achieved position one in the Gauteng Province and an overall second position in the country on the Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance (ICRM), an initiative in preparation for National Health Insurance (NHI).”
Masina touched on public transport, stating the metro had come up with the Integrated Public Transport Network System (IPTNS) after realising the public transport system seemed fragmented and disintegrated.
“Our relationship with the Ekurhuleni Taxi Industry (ETI) is cordial and has made it possible for us to implement the public transport transformation programme,” said Masina.
“Engagements with ETI are ongoing.”
Reverting back to the theme, Masina concluded his speech with details on how the metro would grow its economy by actively engaging with entrepreneurs.
“We will be engaging with local entrepreneurs to assess the state of the sustainability of their businesses in order to extend necessary financial and technical support,” Masina assured residents.
“Businesses that will benefit from this will be chosen on merit.”
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