Johannesburg has seen significant growth from 2006, with the construction, finance and business sectors driving the trend.
THE City plans to push its growth rate to 9 percent over the remaining years of its term until 2011, said executive mayor Amos Masondo in his mid-term report this week.
Johannesburg’s mid-term report: Executive Mayor Amos Masondo delivers a message of progress (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
"Johannesburg’s economy has grown by more than 6 percent per year in the last two years, reaching 6,4 percent growth between 2006/07 and 2007/08,” he said, referring to the theme for the report: “Realising the future we choose: a message of progress”.
This growth had been driven by several sectors, in particular construction, finance and business. Masondo stressed the important role of the city as a generator of economic growth nationally.
“Johannesburg has to achieve a growth rate of 9 percent if the country had to realise a 6 percent economic growth by year 2014.”
However, Masondo did concede that the present difficult global economic situation would influence Joburg’s growth. “Given the difficult international economic situation, it is likely that the economic growth may slow down and as a result, we may not escape unscathed.”
Commodity prices and the exchange rate had declined, leading to a declining business confidence index.
In May this year Masondo tabled a budget for the City of R26-billion.
The growth has been guided by the City’s Growth and Development Strategy, and its five-year Integrated Development Plan. These programmes focus on specific areas: governance; financial sustainability; economic development; spatial form and urban management; environment; transportation and infrastructure; housing; community development; health and public safety; and corporate and shared services.
The City is doing all in its power to ensure continued economic growth, he stressed, and to build Johannesburg into a world-class Africa city. In particular, the City was striving to conclude “all policy and planning processes and commencing with implementation across all focal areas”.
There has been a major improvement in turnaround times for development applications. Township establishment applications previously took up to three years but now take nine months; rezoning applications have been reduced from 10 months to 7,5 months; and building plan applications are processed in 24 hours.
Since June 2007 the City has been working on developing a single town-planning scheme and simplifying town-planning procedures, a process still to be completed.
These improvements will lead to the cost of doing business in the city becoming cheaper.
Job creation and the poor
The City has created 103 461 Expanded Public Works Programme jobs since 2004/5, in addition to a “significant number of learnerships”.
Otherwise, the City’s economic programmes focus on the unemployed, the informal sector and the working poor.
The City has a multi-faceted Social Package Programme in which all indigent households receive a package consisting of 10KL of free water; 4KL of emergency water (for example, HIV/Aids patients in a household); and 100KWH of free electricity. So far 119 000 indigent households have registered for these services, with more beneficiaries are to be included in the future.
Youth have been targeted with job creation, career guidance and skills development programmes.
In addition, the City provides a basket of services, ranging from food, education, health, recreation and skills development, to easing the load of youth-headed households. In early 2008 226 child-headed households were given assistance, linking them with food garden projects, giving them clothing and schools uniforms, and putting them in touch with feeding schemes.
Some 8 175 vulnerable, HIV/Aids-affected and orphaned children were fed in 2006, while NGOs help in delivering the food programme.
Health
The City has seen significant progress regarding TB. While in 2002 only 54 percent of TB patients were cured of the disease, in 2007/8 that figure jumped to 74 percent.
The City’s Children and Youth Health Programme focused on immunisation. Some 88,5 percent of children under a year had been fully immunised in 2007/8. All children under one were provided with Vitamin A, while all severely malnourished children visiting clinics were assisted and monitored.
Housing
The City is striving to formalise informal settlements. This will be done by proper layout and demarcation of stands by means of fencing; registration of residents; allocating stands to deserving and registered families; providing street names and numbering to each unit; providing basic lifeline services; and finally, developing a framework for the upgrade of the settlements, in consultation with the residents.
”These simple yet profound steps provide the basis of security of tenure for the residents and those with the means would easily transform their neighbourhood to a better community environment through self-driven development initiatives,” said Masondo.
The City’s 5-year objective of formalising 95 percent of settlements and upgrading 50 percent of settlements to a minimum level of basic services has been partially achieved since 2006. This last financial year alone 18 informal settlements have been upgraded.
Some 89 houses have been built through the Letsema self-build programme. Around 400 backyard rental units have been developed together with the province in Alexandra township. The City has delivered 246 special needs housing units, in addition to refurbishing old age homes, upgrading hostel units and securing accommodation for street children.
Two emergency housing developments in Diepsloot were completed during 2006/07. During 2007/08 the City delivered 1 188 emergency housing units in the inner city and Alex, and five buildings in the city were opened as temporary and communal accommodation.
Services
The City’s Basic Services Delivery Programme has as its goal to eliminate all backlogs in access to basic services.
By the end of the 2007/08 financial year some 84 percent of the 1 169 048 city households had access to water; 76,7 percent had access to adequate sanitation; and 78,4 percent had electricity.
All informal settlements are receiving a once-a-week garbage bin liner and 71 of the City’s 182 informal settlements are getting a daily collection service by Pikitup.
The City is striving to reduce electricity billing losses from 3 percent to 1 percent, and to reduce electricity outages by 50 percent by 2010.
”There has been a significant investment in electricity distribution infrastructure and network upgrades. City Power has worked with Eskom to implement a load-shedding management plan and develop demand-side management policies to respond to the electricity shortages experienced in 2008,” Masondo asserts.
The City is involved in programmes encouraging and allowing consumers to regulate their own demand for municipal services, with positive effects on the environment. These involve geyser control, prepaid meters, energy efficiency plans regarding heating, ventilation and lighting.
The City has made use of solar lighting for traffic lights, landfill gas, and biogas from waste water treatment works.
The City is working to totally reduce waste to landfill sites, in terms of the Polokwane Declaration of 2001. Pikitup has introduced waste minimisation, separation and recycling programmes, with some success.
Safe, green city
The City’s Crime Prevention Programme targets interventions to reduce crime and mitigate community conflict. Strong working relationships between JMPD and the SAPS now exist.
A by-law management unit was established in 2006/07 to co-ordinate by-law enforcement, in particular illegal street trading, problematic signage, illegal land invasions and land use, inadequate waste management, illegal water and electricity connections, and inappropriate storage of flammable and dangerous goods.
Police officers have been made more visible through JMPD patrols at transport nodes, parks, and areas of high crime occurrence. Officers have also been given training in victim support methods.
The Traffic Safety Enforcement Programme has several targets, one of which is to reduce road fatalities and improve compliance to road traffic laws by 15 percent by 2011. The programme will see officers focusing on campaigns to reduce the number of unroadworthy vehicles on the roads, and conduct traffic safety awareness campaigns.
The City Greening Programme has to date seen more than 90 000 trees planted and nine new parks being developed. Eleven parks and seven cemeteries were upgraded. Some 110 000 more trees will be planted by 2011.
HIV/Aids
Johannesburg’s current prevalence rate of HIV/Aids stands at 30,6 percent, less than the Gauteng average.
”The City’s long-term goal is to significantly reduce HIV/AIDS prevalence and incidence rates and reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities,” said Masondo.
The City’s HIV/Aids Community Care and Capacity Development Programme trains community volunteers, who then adopt a block, visiting families within that block to provide support and education.
In March this year the City’s health department received permission to roll out anti-retroviral treatment, ensuring that all city regions now have access to comprehensive HIV/Aids management and treatment plans.
2010 Fifa World Cup™
The mayor proudly pronounced that the City’s preparations for the World Cup were “on track, on schedule and within budget”.
”A number of local and international inspection teams, observers and media representatives have expressed satisfaction about the progress that has been made.”
The mayor said that R789,1-million will be spent over the next two years in preparation for 2010, to be used for upgrade of stadiums, legacy projects, setting up the International Broadcasting Centre, and infrastructure upgrades, particularly around Nasrec in southern Joburg.
”Once completed, Nasrec will be one of the most accessible precincts in the region, providing economic opportunities for the surrounding communities and the general public,” explained Masondo.
Well-governed and managed city
The City received its first unqualified audit report in June 2008 under Masondo.
”Both the City’s short and long-term international credit ratings have improved and we stand at AA+ and F1 short-term, which simply means our financial position is very strong and positive,” said the mayor.
”The City’s capital budget grew from approximately R2,6-billion in 2005/06 to nearly R4,6-billion in 2007/08, while the operating budget reflects on average annual growth of 11,2% for the same period resulting in the largest municipal programme in the country,” he continued.
Looking ahead
The mayor expressed satisfaction at the City’s progress in his first term of office, from 2000 to 2005.
”The solid foundation laid in that term has created a stable environment for delivery and development in the current term.
”Johannesburg is growing in political, economic and developmental stature as a city which values high growth and cares for its residents. Over the last two and a half years the City has taken bold steps in realising the vision of being a world-class African city.”
The remainder of his second term, until 2011, will see the gains consolidated, and the continuation of the services that have been established.
”In a city of contrasts, a focus on accelerated economic growth must be matched by concerted attention to promoting livelihoods, reducing poverty and ensuring social inclusion.”
Democracy would be deepened, he said, with the further roll out of community-based planning across the city, by the end of his second term.
”Customer relations will be improved with the development of a customer-centred focus through a single-window customer interface,” he explained.
Masondo said the City would be vigilant in achieving clean audits for the next three years, while sustaining revenue growth.
”A priority is the rolling out of the revised rates and tariffs system along with the resolution of all billing and revenue collection problems.”
He explained that the City would be careful regarding possible threats to its financial security, in particular with regard to: electricity distribution; grant funding and other revenue streams; budget alignment between spheres of government; and the pressures of climate change and strained water resources.
The City will focus on supporting high value-added sectors, stimulate the development of small businesses, optimise the UDZ, extend economic regeneration to more areas, and incorporate marginalised people.
Improved transportation infrastructure is key to “enhancing urban efficiency and promoting access to opportunity for all residents”. To this end the City is working 24 hours a day on laying down the infrastructure for its Bus Rapid Transit system, to be operational by May 2009. The bus system will be enhanced by the high-speed Gautrain system, the first phase of which will be operational by July 2010.
The City is aiming towards achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals with its upgrading of informal settlements, to ensure that poor residents are no longer confined to living in slums.
”The City will prioritise extending public infrastructure to informal settlements so that residents have access to basic services.”
The City will continue to promote Joburg as an “economic centre”, while realising that this means targeting skills development, particularly of the younger generation.
In an effort to curb crime, the JMPD force will be increased to 4 000 officers, the police academy will be completed, the effectiveness of the municipal court will be enhanced, and police visibility will be increased.
”The focus on clean and ethical government will be unequivocal,” he reiterated.
Masondo said that present programmes regarding electricity and water saving, recycling and waste management, and green building practices, would be continued.
The focus on HIV/Aids will be intensified. The creation of sustainable human settlements will receive priority focus, as will new settlement formation.
Masondo thanked all those involved in the City’s achievements, and encouraged citizens, communities and stakeholders to engage with his mid-term report, offering their feedback.
”These will be seriously considered to enable us to further improve and accelerate our delivery and development efforts in order to improve the quality of life of all our people,” he said.
A solid foundation for growth and development has been laid, he added, ensuring Joburg’s path to progress.
”The pioneering spirit of Johannesburg – place of gold and place of opportunity – will continue to guide the city to a future of our choosing: a world-class African city for all."
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