Joanne speaks on the State of the Province Address

Ward 81 councillor Joanne Horwitz reflected on last week’s State of the Province Address by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

She highlighted Lesufi’s promise of R1.2 billion which would be invested in safety and security infrastructure in the province and wondered how this investment would bear fruit.

“The bewilderment is reasonable because every hi-tech gadget spoken of requires the one thing South Africans do not have – a stable power supply.”

On the Premier’s promise of issuing of e-Panic buttons to every resident, she questioned who would get that tender.

Lesufi had said the e-Panic buttons were part of the high-tech gadgets which would help in the fight against crime in South Africa and they would be linked to the government’s law enforcement agencies, CCTVs, and their new state-of-the-art Integrated Command Centre.

“With that being said, I think it would be a more useful investment of funds if it were targeted at tackling low-hanging fruit.”

Horwitz had hoped that Lesufi, would have talked about improving provincial roads such as Moddefontein Road and maintaining a schedule of cutting back grass, trees, and bushes on provincially held land so criminals could not lie in wait for their victims.

“Also, for them [government] to provide financial support to the City of Johannesburg’s programme of upgrading the communities’ water and electricity delivery infrastructure and also by bringing through programmes that speak directly to development, such as construction projects that employ more local labourers,”

She concluded that the best approach to provide local communities with development was through a grant-in-aid programme for people who were carrying out ward-wide tasks that the City should be handling.

Details: Joanne Horwitz is interested to know what residents will say and suggest about the State of the Province Address. Let her know by WhatsApp or SMS at 0845851555 (no voice notes) or jo_horwitz@yahoo.com