New mayor, new vision
Newly elected executive mayor of Johannesburg Geoffrey Makhubo said he will correct the mistakes made by his predecessors.
THE newly elected executive mayor of the City Of Johannesburg, councillor Geoffrey Makhubo, staged a media briefing on December 5 to share his vision and mission for the city at Council Chamber Wing Metrocentre in Braamfontein.
The mayor opened his speech by thanking the city’s residents for allowing him to steer the ship.
Makhubo said he was going to fix the mistakes of his predecessors and prioritise infrastructure projects that were already in motion.
He outlined four aspects that his administration would focus on to raise the standard of the city, namely finances, service delivery, fighting corruption and increasing institutional capacity and cohesion.
Makhubo warned that the city’s finances were on the verge of collapse. City Power assets, for example, were sitting at R3.1-billion while its liabilities were R9.5-b. Service providers throughout the city hadn’t been paid on time, he added.
“We worry that among other challenges the City may not be able to foot the bill in about three months,” said Makhubo.
In regard to service delivery, he mentioned that illegal dumping across the city was putting the health of citizens at risk.
“Uncontrolled land invasions that have mushroomed as a result of kowtowing to the masters have become the order of the day.
“Our roads are full of dongas with gaping potholes due to poor maintenance,” said Makhubo.
He emphasised that resources would have to be allocated to fix all the problems.
“We remain committed to dealing with and uprooting corruption in the city,” said Makhubo, saying that billions of rand had been spent on the fight against corruption.
Institutional capacity and cohesion
Makhubo said about three years had been wasted but he would try to work towards ensuring that students from the townships got access to free Wi-Fi and other opportunities.
Other items to be implemented were Jozi@Work and Corridors of Freedom, one of the largest public transportation developments which was launched by former ANC mayor Parks Tau in 2013. This project was meant to improve citizens’ lives through public transport.
He further wants to focus on youth mobile open university, infrastructure investment of R100-b over 10 years and food banks that provide social safety nets to the poorest of the poor.
“The power of local government is in the hands of its citizens, residents, community and employees.
“To address these challenges, society in Johannesburg needs to come together and work as a collective.
“Government as the leader of society must continue to gear itself to put in place a capable administration that will take care of aspects of the social fabric of society,” said Makhubo.
Five things the councillor will be focusing on
1. Service delivery programmes that will rebuild the city to ensure that 6kl of free water is provided to informal settlements per month. The City will electrify both informal and formal settlements, clean our city three times a day, build houses that promote integrated human settlements, including hostels, and upgrade and maintain road infrastructure.
2. Create a safer city where people can live, work and play.
3. Build cohesive communities that will enable people to coexist.
4. Put in place systems that will enable the city to become financially sustainable, with good governance practised daily.
5. Continue to deal with corruption and malfeasance decisively.
