The Executive Mayor of the City of Joburg, Cllr Herman Mashaba said despite limited municipal resources, the City will prioritise the delivery of basic services in Region A.
The Mayor addressed a packed Rabie Ridge Community Hall on Saturday, 6 April during Region A’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) Summit.
The Mayor has been traversing all four quadrants of the municipality on a consultative drive to seek inputs into the City’s IDP, which guides municipal budgetary allocations for service delivery.
The sitting was attended by various stakeholders, including local residents, academics and businesspeople, who wanted to contribute to the City’s service-delivery plan for the next financial year, 2019/20.
Mashaba informed residents of the City’s game plan, Diphetogo which aims to effect an efficient turnaround in the delivery of basic services. Diphetogo can be loosely translated as ‘real change’.
The Mayor told residents that Diphetogo aims to accelerate delivery in five focus areas, which encompassed economic growth, efficient service delivery, infrastructure development, public safety and housing provision.
“We are committed to transform society and to ensure that socioeconomic transformation is experienced by all. During my administration, people will be at the centre of development,” he said.
After an honest, robust and heated debate with thousands of local residents from all wards in Region A, the Rabie Ridge Residents Association handed a Memorandum of grievances to the Mayor. Their concerns were many and varied, ranging from unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse to calls for the building of sporting facilities and the provision of housing.
Charles Jones of the local association urged the City to continue providing primary healthcare and basic services such as housing, electricity and water in the Region.
Jones encouraged the youth in the Region to speak out on issues affecting them. He said social cohesion would help address problems of drug and alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy in the region. “You must remember that the City creates opportunities and you must grab them. Make sure that even your children take advantage of these opportunities,” he told the community.
Jones applauded the City’s initiative to extend operating hours at local clinics.
The question and answer session degenerated into chaos because of political squabbles between members of different political parties, who were present at the gathering. The point of contention was a parcel of land in Region A, 10 IR Allandale, which the City declined to purchase because of an over-inflated price tag.
It's reported that the owner had bought the piece of land for R7-million but was now selling it to the City for R250-million. Mayor Mashaba said the municipality will now begin a process to expropriate the land for the benefit of the community.
He told residents that it was important that their views are taken into consideration when the City budgets for the 2019/20 financial year. “We need to have a long term view; we owe it to future generations to ensure they inherit a better South Africa than the one we live in today. I’m a strong believer that what men destroy, men can also restore. If ever South Africans are prepared to give up I will not, I believe in this country,” said Mayor Mashaba.
