Five years with Mayor Masondo

Executive Mayor Amos Masondo is several months into his second five-year term of office. He can look back on his first five years with a lot of satisfaction for a job well done.

Executive Mayor Amos Masondo is several months into his second five-year term of office. He can look back on his first five years with a lot of satisfaction for a job well done.

IF you're backing Brazil as winners of the soccer world cup, you're in good company - executive mayor Amos Masondo is also putting his money on that country.

But he admits that he's disappointed that Bafana Bafana is not playing in Germany.

Joburg's mayor has established a reputation for himself as a guy who gets things done, and who, after his first five-year term, can look back at tangible results. Like the tarring of all the roads in Soweto. Like the building of the Nelson Mandela Bridge. Like hosting the successful 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Like establishing the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department. Like reviving a dead inner city.

Masondo is a big guy, an unpretentious, down-to-earth guy who lives in the middle-class suburb of Kensington, a short trip away from his surprisingly small but workmanlike office in Braamfontein.

Always smartly turned out in dark suit, invariably a pure white shirt and elegant tie, the mayor is happy to pull on an overall, grab a broom and sweep the city's streets, to promote the need to keep the city clean.

He seldom talks about himself, and is probably reticent to do so because at heart he is reserved and somewhat shy. But that hasn't stopped him getting out into the communities he serves - since taking office he has done regular roadshows, talking to some of Joburg's 3.2 million people in 11 city regions (about to be refigured to seven).

Johannesburg, a city of 1 645 square kilometres, generates 16% of South Africa's wealth, and employs 12% of the national workforce. Some 74% of South African companies have their headquarters in the city. Around 97% of households have access to piped water and 85% have electric lighting in their homes. Experts predict that by 2015, Johannesburg, Tshwane and the small towns in the area will have become a single mega city, the 12th largest in the world.

When asked about the origin of the phrase "world-class African city", Masondo explains that in the run-up to 2000 when he took office the city was going through hard times, and there was a need to clarify where the city was going.

"We were really looking at the best-run cities in the world, and wanted to aspire or eclipse them," he says.

"We added the African element because we didn't want to be a city alienated from itself. Joburg is a city on the African continent, we needed to re-assert our Africanness. We needed to inspire new values and fight Afro-pessimism."

According to Neil Fraser, respected city renewal champion and partner of Urban Inc, an urban consultancy dedicated to the revitalisation and regeneration of cities, Joburg is not doing too badly in the world class standard stakes. He quotes in one of his weekly Citichat columns that in a recent study conducted by the Globalisation and World Cities Study Group and Network, based at Loughborough University in England, Joburg appears among the 35 gamma cities - those considered to be minor world cities. Other gamma cities are Washington DC, Rome, Beijing, Boston, Munich and Berlin. Joburg is the only African city to make the list.

Alpha cities - described as the most influential world cities - include London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Beta cities - the major world cities - include San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich.

Masondo looks back on his first five-year term with a sense of achievement. One of the highlights is a book, Reflecting on a solid foundation: building developmental local government 2000-2005, published in 2006. The book gives a detailed account of work done over the past five years.

The cover of the book shows Masondo in short sleeves and tie, standing at his office window with hands on hips, looking out over the city with an expression of satisfaction. He talks in the foreword of his first term of office as being "an incredibly exciting and positive experience".

That was January 2006. Local government elections were held in March, and Masondo was given the top job in Joburg again.

"What needs to be said and emphasised is that we intend to deepen and build on this solid foundation as we move to the future," said Masondo in his state of the city address, shortly after beginning his second five-year term.

Fraser, in a January Citichat column headlined "Mayor has done a good job over past five years", comments that there have been "irritants" - outages and a lack of maintenance of power plants; inadequate by-law enforcement; grime on city streets; the city's urban poor; and a lack of pro-active planning.

However, Fraser says: "For my money, notwithstanding the downsides, I think the executive mayor and his team have done a very good job. I like the title of his report - Reflecting on a solid foundation - because I believe that this is what has been achieved.

"I would certainly like to see him lead the city through another term of office during which period we can continue to build on that foundation. I am confident that not only are we well on the road to the goal of a world-class African city, but that 2010 will provide significant further opportunities for the city and its people. Well done, Mr Mayor."

Fraser says Joburg has experienced an annual 4,5 percent economic growth rate.

Masondo is also proud of the fact that when he took up his post in December 2000 Joburg put in place a city management style that has been emulated across the country - that of a mayoral committee system consisting of 10 members.

"We decided to have a mayoral committee system to ensure adequate power for the mayoral committee to take and implement decisions."

The new Local Government Act of 2000 changed the old ceremonial mayoral position to one where mayors take overall strategic and political responsibility for cities.

When he took office he felt a need to "deepen transformation" and change the way council worked. There was a simple choice: an executive mayoral committee system consisting of only ANC members, or an inclusive system, where all major political parties would be represented.

But he felt that the latter choice wouldn't be conducive to what the city needed. Instead, a system where "a climate where a lot of quibbling and meaningless discussions and therefore paralysis" was likely, was discarded.

There was some unhappiness at the time to the mayoral committee system - the opposition Democratic Alliance took the case to court, but lost.

"We are privileged to have played this pioneering role," says Masondo.

Another highlight that Masondo is proud of is the creation of "somewhat unique portfolios" from the standardised portfolios like health and finance. He recognised that the inner city was in urgent need of investment and renewal, so created an inner city portfolio.

To assist this process, the Johannesburg Development Agency was created, and five years later, it oversees a budget of R168-million and has an impressive range of successful projects to boast about, the first major investments in the inner city for over a decade or more.

It seems to have paid off. The city has seen major revitalisation over the past five years, with an vibrant mix of investments - from the Nelson Mandela Bridge and the mixed housing development of Brickfields, to the conversion of old office buildings into luxury loft apartments. Major corporates like Absa, the mining houses and FNB have remained in the city centre, and others have returned to the CBD. Many office buildings are being converted into mixed income apartments, or refurbished as office accommodation for a new wave of SMEs taking up the space.

Fraser estimates that the combined private-public sector investment in the inner city is probably around R10- to R20-billion.

"People were so sceptical and very dismissive - the inner city had lost its shine about 20 years ago. They thought that making it a hive of economic activity was just a dream," says Masondo.

He concedes that he didn't do it alone. "We won stakeholders to our side - we established the Central Johannesburg Partnership, the city improvement districts, Newtown Cultural Precinct, acting together with artists and the media."

Fraser says: "At the end of the day, investment is what is it's all about, for investment reflects stability and confidence and the executive mayor has played a real role in exchanging the previous negative perceptions for real investment.'

Another highlight for Masondo is the tarring of roads in Soweto, all 280km of them, at a cost to the city of R485-million. This project might be close to his heart as he grew up in the township, when, from the age of 5, he moved with his parents from his birth town of Louwsburg in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Besides making life more pleasant for Sowetans, it's had another benefit.

"It's sent a message to many stakeholders, including business, that there are opportunities out there - the time was right for business to invest in Soweto."

He sites examples of shopping complexes being built, the transformation of Kliptown with the R110-million square, the R100-million Bara taxi rank, and the most extravagant, the R1-billion Orlando Ekhaya housing, shopping and entertainment complex.

"We have utilised council land to leverage private sector resources way beyond what people thought was possible. This was unthought-of a few years ago," he says with some satisfaction.

Another clever move was using the pressure of the WSSD, a huge summit that the city took off with aplomb, to "deepen the process". Masondo points to Moroka Dam and Thokoza Park, previously neglected, dangerous stretches of land, now transformed into pleasant picnic spots, frequented by thousands of Sowetans every weekend.

Along with this, has been the grassing of soccer fields down south, previously dusty patches of land. In addition, over 5 000 trees have been planted in Soweto, says the mayor.

Regarding Joburg's other populous township, Alexandra, long neglected during apartheid, Masondo says: "We have ensured the good work continues there," referring to the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP), a R1,3-billion presidential project begun in 2001. That involves opening a people centre in the township, where residents can raise problems regarding electricity, water and sanitation.

Masondo admits that the ARP has "not been as successful as envisaged", largely because national, provincial and local government have each been working on the project in disparate ways. But the city has "kept the fires burning, and we have refused to abandon the project". Late in 2005 a new director, Julian Baskin, was appointed by the city, to take the project forward.

"The three spheres of government continue to explore better ways of getting the project to work better. Possibilities of making a break-through are greater."

The mayor feels very strongly about litter in the city. "I am very concerned myself. I have this nagging feeling in me that much, much more could be done to improve cleanliness of the city."

Those words are turning into action - in mid-May, at a cost of R7-million, the Inner City Revival Campaign was launched. It aims to clean the city continuously - streets will be swept, pavements and alleyways will be hosed down and stormwater drains cleared. Inner city suburbs like Hillbrow, Joubert Park, Yeoville, Berea, Braamfontein and Doornfontein will be included in the campaign.

"The inner city must be cleaned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," says Masondo. With this approach the city will be "cleaner than it's ever been".

Masondo has instructed that this effort be accompanied by education - leaflets are to be distributed to residents, and information on monthly bills will disseminate the message to residents. More rubbish bins will be placed on pavements.

"I want to see a green and clean city. A lot of emphasis is on the inner city and Soweto."

In May Masondo presented the city with a R21-billion budget, up from the R18,9-billion budget last year. It is the country's biggest city budget.

In the budget the mayor outlined his six new priorities: economic growth and job creation; health and community development; housing and services; safe, a clean and green city; a well-governed and managed city; and HIV/Aids.

One element of these priorities is women's safety. He plans to increase the number of metro police officers on the streets from around 2 500 now to 4 000 by the end of 2011, when his term ends.

"Metro officers are not just concerned with traffic violations or crime prevention or by-law enforcement but also abuse of children and women." He explains that he will be making available a number where women and children can phone in concerns and complaints. In addition, a specialised metro police unit will be dedicated to women's and children's safety.

Safety on the roads is also a concern of his. "We will ensure that police officers are all over, visible, so that a culture of doing as you please comes to an end. We have gone a long way but a bit more still has to be done."

When asked about his three top concerns for the city's future, Masondo's response is focused on the economics of city management.

Firstly, "how do we grow the economy in the coming period to create jobs?"

Secondly, "how do we create a city that is sustainable; a properly governed city that is owned by all citizens and residents?"

And thirdly, "how do we ensure we maintain the infrastructure where it exists in good standard and extend it in areas where none is in place?"

Masondo said that the experience of tarring Soweto's roads means that "we have learnt how to do things better". The result of this is that "we will ensure the entire city benefits from this inclusive approach to give citizens a sense of ownership".

In his 2006 budget speech the mayor introduced his growth and development strategy (GDS), an updated version of the 2030 economic plan for the city. The GDS has a "development paradigm" that involves six principles: proactive absorption of the poor; balanced and shared growth; facilitated social mobility; settlement restructuring; sustainability and environmental justice; and innovative governance solutions.

A single vision statement has emerged from this, giving a projection of what the city will look like 25 to 30 years from now. This vision begins with: "In the future, Johannesburg will continue to lead as South Africa's primary business city, a dynamic centre of production, innovation, trade, finance and services."

The vision sees the city as more equitable and integrated, where the poor and vulnerable will be helped out of poverty and enjoy upward mobility.

"In this world-class African city for all, everyone will be able to enjoy decent accommodation, excellent services, the highest standards of health and safety, access to participatory governance, and quality community life in sustainable neighbourhoods and vibrant urban spaces."

Masondo stresses that this future vision is not going to happen unless we do certain things today.

"In 2011 we will look back with pride - this is how to restore Johannesburg to the glory it is entitled to. Lifting Joburg to this level compares favourably with the best cities in the world."

Meanwhile, when not strategising about the city's future, the mayor has a number of favourite places he likes to hang out at: the Market Theatre, the zoo, museums like the Hector Pieterson Memorial and the Apartheid Museum, and green lungs like the Moroka, Thokoza and the Dorothy Nyembe parks in Soweto. Don't be surprised if you bump into him and his family leisurely enjoying some of the fruits of his hard work.