Masina gets his point across

It took Ekurhuleni mayor Clr Mzwandile Masina hours to break through the opposition parties and deliver his first State of the City Address.

A large number of people waited patiently outside the Civic Centre in Germiston on Wednesday, March 29, to listen to what the mayor had to say, and it seems he did not disappoint. They often applauded him during his speech.

He spoke about the city’s involvement in remembering the great giants of the revolution, such as Oliver Tambo.

“The city has taken the decision to construct the nine-metre bronze statue of Oliver Tambo as fitting tribute and recognition of this great struggle icon at the OR Tambo International Airport in October this year.

“Furthermore, the city is engaging with national and provincial road authorities and the public at large for the renaming of key interchanges on the N3, the N12, the N17, R21 and R24 freeways after those heroes and heroines of our struggle,” said Masina.

To show that this government listens to its people, Masina said “there will be no increase in tariffs as an indication that this government listens and is pro-poor.

“The city will continue to provide free basic services to the indigent residents of the city, mainly water and sanitation, free basic electricity and waste removal.

“As the executive mayor of Ekurhuleni Municipality we are increasing the number EMPD precincts to be able to combat crime in the city and make sure that the people of the city are safe,” said Masina.

Masina said they also believe that the radical proposition of the city to deliver 100 000 houses and 59 000 serviced stands is profound and critical.

“This stands to benefit the poor, black middle strata and professionals who have been calling for an intervention from the government. This will go a long way to ease the burden of a 20-year debt for owning a decent home.

“The Ekurhuleni ANC-led government is being decisive in this matter. Our people stand to benefit from this radical approach as the city has made 89 pieces of land available to the faith-based organisations.

“We are greatly encouraged that our people will be given land that has been classified as illegally occupied by them in informal settlements, including expropriation of private land that was not developed since 1994. This will include CBD buildings which have been converted by their owners into slums.

“The municipality has allocated about R1 billion for the bulk infrastructure in informal settlement and the concrete action plan of electrifying informal settlements in the next five years,” said Masina.

Masina also spoke about the vision to have a University of Technology in the city.

“We are also continuing with the R100-million bursary programme to ensure that young people gain access to the institutions of higher learning to further their studies.

“More than 700 students this year have already benefited from the programme and they are pursuing their dreams at universities and other institutions of higher learning.

“Overall, we unleashed a new hope for the residents of Ekurhuleni which entails the 10-point economic plan with an estimated R12 billion to be injected into the city’s economy.”