New Mogale City mayor delivers his first State of the City Address

Mogale City Local Municipality Executive Mayor councillor Danny Thupane recently presented his maiden State of the City Address (Soca) and looked back on the past year while outlining new plans for the future.

The event was celebrated in style with a beautifully decorated Centenary Hall. Councillors from various political parties were also dressed to impress. Following a parade by Public Safety officers, the mayor then had the opportunity to speak to the leaders of our city. He explained that Mogale City has an unemployment rate of 47% whereas the national unemployment rate only stands at 32.9%.

“We are a city that employs more men than women or put differently, we are a city that has more unemployed women than men,” the mayor said.

The Krugersdorp News had the honour of attending the Soca and compiled a summary of the most essential information.

Before the Soca, numerous Integrated Development Plan (IDP) public participation meetings were held. These meetings were held in 13 wards and 536 written and oral suggestions were received. The mayor said they will continue to engage by holding regular sectoral meetings.

Soca 2023 was, however, also compiled with the inputs from residents in mind where resident Sechabeng Motho suggested that ‘to build trust and relationships, the mayor should actively engage with the community’.

Motho further suggested that regular Town Hall meetings are organised, allowing residents from the urban, township, and rural areas to voice their concerns and suggestions.

“It is crucial to ensure that these meetings are inclusive and that all residents feel heard and valued. The mayor can also establish advisory committees or community forums that represent diverse demographics, providing a platform for ongoing dialogue and feedback,” Motho said.

Here are a few important details which were presented by the mayor at Soca.

Innovation and local economic development:

• Bionic Aviation from the Delporton Industrial Park will be launching an electric vehicle assembly plant
• MaxxLiving will be building off-the-grid modular houses in Nooitgedacht, using wood
• Entrepreneurs and innovators are invited to come forward with ideas
• They will be engaging with Tyrone Gray (the former mayor of Mogale City) on business proposals
• The Magaliesburg, Tarlton, Muldersdrift, and Hekpoort Precinct Plans have been revised and will come before the council soon
• The Mogale City Land Use Management Scheme and Spatial Development Framework have been approved, reviewed, and will be implemented
• They have facilitated training for 25 people in a three-month Safety Food Assurance programme and these learners were placed in accommodation establishments around the city
• About 250 new businesses have been registered
• Chamdor Industrial Park renovations are in Phase 2. The R9.6m project employs 20 local small medium and micro enterprises and will be completed by September this year
• The Expanded Public Works programme initiative has created 1 406 job opportunities
• Thirty emerging farmers are being supported by the mechanisation programme
• A total of 70 informal businesses for the Informal and Micro Enterprise Development Programme disbursements have been approved
• A total of 87 informal businesses are trading in the new taxi rank in the CBD
• The municipality wants to commercialise the Krugersdorp Game Reserve through a public-private partnership arrangement

One of the most pressing matters at the moment is the submerged graves in the Kagiso Cemetery. The problem stems from the 2021 heavy rains and resident Rebecca Elizabeth Khumalo advised the mayor that this is a matter of urgency. According to the mayor, they have allocated R1m to get the services of an independent hydrological engineer who will assist them with a long-term solution for the water problem in the cemetery.
According to the mayor, they want to drain the water from four small ponds and one small dam behind the cemetery.

Other environmental management issues being addressed:

• Greening and cleaning projects will be implemented in wards with the collaboration of the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment and Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment to stimulate and create employment
• Hekpoort Park has been revamped through tree planting, repainting of equipment and cleaning of the park
• With the help of the presidential tree planting initiative the municipality has also planted 700 trees in the city, 500 fruit trees, and 200 indigenous trees. An Adopt-a-Park policy which is meant to encourage communities to take direct ownership and safety of the environment around them will also be rolled out
• Two additional officials of Mogale City will be designated as Environmental Management Inspectors by the Gauteng MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment

Human settlements and rural development to be completed:

• By the end of this year, 600 houses will have been built at the Brickvale Mixed Housing Development in Tarlton. This development will have 6 490 houses with 180 houses already allocated to beneficiaries. This development will be supported by a 5 megalitre reservoir that will also be added to service the whole of Tarlton. This reservoir shall, should things go well, be completed by the end of the year
• The Leratong Smart City project has also started. This smart city will have 17 000 houses and the bulk infrastructure is currently being constructed. The sewer bulk line for this development has been completed and the completion of the bulk water pipeline is being finalised. Construction of a 5 megalitre water reservoir in Leratong has started and a contractor has been appointed to undertake planning studies to be able to construct Phase 2 of the reservoir
• It is all systems go for the Munsieville Extension 9 project which will have 889 housing units that have already been allocated
• Unfinished giveaway houses and those with structural damage in Rietvallei Proper, extensions 1 to 3, Kagiso Extension 12, and Munsieville Extensions 2 and 4 will also be completed
• Planning studies for Ga-Mogale Extension 1 which will have 600 houses are being finalised and construction is expected to start in the coming financial year
• Ethembalethu Village will see an additional 150 housing units being built. They are also finalising planning studies for this project
• Then the repair of vandalised internal services and the sewer package plant at Dr Motlana housing development will be done by November and another 254 houses will be constructed
• The same will happen at the Dr Sefularo housing development and once repairs are done in November another 180 houses will be constructed there as well
• The municipality’s housing backlog of 32 000 is down to about 25 558

A few constraints with human and rural development:

• The municipality recognises that most developments in Muldersdrift are not taking off due to bulk infrastructure constraints in the area
• The Nooitgedacht, or Refentse Mega City Human Settlement Development, will also be hampered by this reality.
• The municipality has decided to acquire suitably located land for the construction of a sewer treatment plant which will also support Ethembalethu Village in Muldersdrift

Resident Tshenolo Motswe also suggested that municipal land be made available for people to build for themselves. The municipality will be selling stands for residential, church, and business purposes. It was mentioned that hostel audits will be done to ensure that those residing there are authorised to do so

“A task team consisting of the municipality, the City of Johannesburg, Harmony Gold Mine, the West Rand District Municipality, Rand Water, Disaster Management Centre, Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and Gauteng Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs have been assembled to address the flooding of houses in Swaneville,” the mayor said.

He also mentioned that people directly affected by the flooding have been relocated by the municipality.

Furthermore, electricity will be provided to Matshelapata Phase 2, Tswelopele, Botshabelo, Portion 140, Mafreystata and Steenekoppies. Eskom is undertaking pre-engineering at Portion 26 in Kromdraai, Tarlton, Federline, Floraport and Portion 80 in Nooitgedacht.

Infrastructure service successes:

• The municipality successfully maintains 1 214km of road in the city. This consists of 940km of paved road and 114km of gravel road
• Roads in Kagiso, Lusaka, Azaadville, and Munsieville have been maintained to eradicate potholes
• A total of 2 470m of stormwater pipes have been cleaned; 1 923 catch pits and 83 stormwater outlets have also been cleaned and various stormwater catch pits and manholes repaired
• A total of 27 860 customers have been supplied with electricity
• Repairs to the Magaliesburg Wastewater Treatment Works have been completed and a new power supply installed and non-functioning mechanical plant equipment repaired
• 14km of old asbestos cement water pipes in Noordheuwel are being replaced

However, R2b in revenue is needed to run efficient electricity services with only R1.2b in revenue brought in from electricity usage. Because of an overloading risk, a project to construct a power line between Factoria 33kV substation and Libertas substations in Noordheuwel will be undertaken.

Social development and health a serious concern:

• The department is considering establishing park homes for homeless persons to assist with the homeless drug users in the CBD and other areas
• Six child-headed families in Tarlton and Swaneville received 12 months of support in terms of groceries (at R400 per person) and other items from the municipality in partnership with the South African Local Government Association and Council for Debt Collectors. The municipality is working on adding more families to this programme
• Of the 4 838 households who applied for indigent support, 4 274 were approved
• They are looking at entering into a shared service agreement with local municipalities in the West Rand to share the cost of procuring an Indigent Management System
• The Kagiso Community Hall was re-opened and the municipality is busy with the construction of the Kagiso Elderly Centre

The mayor stated that libraries in the city will be maintained and refurbished, and the Krugersdorp Museum will also receive some attention.

Governance, corporate support and finance, and how the public can help:

• They want to reduce irregular expenditure and have committed to highlighting the capital and operational as well as irregular expenditure at all departments. This will be done to ensure irregular expenditure is sufficiently dealt with and the consequences thereof are managed
• A commitment to the Auditor General was made to implement a Revenue Enhancement Strategy and ensure that revenue owed to the municipality is collected
• Councillors will have to attend ethics and anti-corruption workshops and code of conduct posters have been placed in strategic places in the municipality to be seen and studied by employees, stakeholders and the public
• Employees, stakeholders, and the public are encouraged to use hotline numbers on the posters to report allegations of misconduct or complaints against municipal employees anonymously without fear of reprisal
• Municipal staff regulations will be rolled out to ensure that all job profiles are compliant with regulations and ensure that skilled and qualified employees are appointed into positions
• An electronic version of the municipal newspaper will be released in the last week of July

The following services were offered by the licensing department in the past year:

• 4 167 applicants tested for learner licences
• 12 195 applicants tested for driving licences
• 30 526 driving licences were renewed
• 41 012 driving licence cards were ordered
• 20 649 vehicles were registered
• 67 949 licence discs renewed
• Licensing services will be extended by establishing a satellite licensing centre in Magaliesburg
• Licensing services will be modernised by introducing a drive-tough facility for the renewal of licences
• A courier service for the delivery of licence cards will be introduced