State of the City Address by His Worship the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, City Hall, Tshwane, capital city of the Republic of South Africa
Madam Speaker;
Leader of Council Business;
Chief Whip of Council;
Members of the Mayoral Committee;
Fellow Councillors;
Esteemed Governor of the Reserve Bank;
City Manager and Senior Managers present today;
Your Excellences, Ambassadors and High Commissioners;
Leaders of the Business Community present today;
Distinguished guests;
Comrades and friends;
Members of the mass media.
It’s an immense honour and a distinct privilege to address this grand gathering on the occasion of the second annual State of the City Address.
Approximately a year ago the incumbent administration took office and instantly instated a social and economic development agenda for the current term. In this agenda, we were very much alert to the need to surmount the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality and thus accordingly positioned these challenges as the key drivers of our service delivery programme.
In our address to the house on that occurrence, we outlined a set of programmatic measures whose characteristic purpose it was to ignite excellence as a key distinguishing value for all the endeavours of our city.
In that address, we were excessively clear about what we understood by excellence and its indispensability to not only accomplishing our mandate but, most importantly, ameliorating the triple challenges on a sustainable basis.
In this connection, we were guided by the insights of an encyclopaedic and ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who wrote: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation … We are what we repeatedly do … Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
We were also abundantly clear that for those of us at the crucible of the institutional machinery striving for this goal, were ready to imbibe and internalise the values and ethos of excellence.
It is for this reason that we said: “We aim to make excellence an enduring habit of our approach to service delivery, which should be stubbornly and single-mindedly pursued. This and only this attitude will help ossify the foundational pillars of our endeavours to cultivate fine traditions of quality, superiority and distinction in our commitments to our people.”
And yet we harboured no undue illusions about the difficulties and challenges to be traversed on our road to the kingdom of excellence.
In particular, we were acutely aware that between our stated goals and their actual realisation lay a dark shadow of incredibly diverse factors, some of which are way beyond the bounds of human subjectivity.
In this context, reference should be made to the global and national economic situation and its impact on dynamics at local government level. In other words, the sluggish global economic recovery, coupled with strong indications that parts of the Euro Zone could soon be officially in recession, compounds the injurious climate in which we pursue our social and economic goals.
In spite of all these deleterious realities, we remained firm in our belief that it is only through dedication to the fine traditions of excellence, diligence, meticulousness and precision that we stand a chance of navigating the turbulence ahead.
This notion we arrived at by taking seriously the paraphrased words of the classical German philosopher, Karl Marx, who wrote: “There is no royal road to [excellence] and it is only those who do not dread the fatiguing climbs of its steep paths that stand a chance to reach its luminous summits.”
We also pledged to spare neither strength nor effort in making excellence an inimitable quality of our several and collective efforts to overcome the social and economic development challenges facing our communities.
Madam Speaker and Fellow Citizens, in the process of developing this address we engaged with a range of people through platforms such as email, Twitter and Facebook, and the Pretoria News (the Dear Mayor Campaign); and we have also listened carefully, particularly to the views pertaining to the plight of women, children, youths, students and business. To all of you, we say we humbly accept your offer of partnership and cooperation towards building an African capital city of excellence today and in the future.
Madam Speaker, what follows is a balance sheet of our efforts in relation to the programmatic agenda outlined before the house.
Team Tshwane is now solid and energised
It is a basic truism that without a sound organisational structure occupied by the right kind of skills, values and professional ethos, the ideal of excellence and a city in which the triple challenges are adequately addressed will remain a distant dream.
Following the completion of the work on the macro structure, the process of institutional re-engineering turned to the micro level where we placed appropriately qualified and capable personnel.
This process ensured that we move beyond a mere structure into a team of men and women who are not only willing but also capable of driving the city forward. Moving forward, we undertake to attend comprehensively to all human capital needs by filling every single vacancy to further expand the implementation capacity of the city administration.
The team has already established a dynamic routine of planning, implementation and tracking rhythms to ensure the success of our various programmatic elements.
Some of these routines include the City Manager’s monthly top management meetings; project steering committee meetings on a weekly, bi-weekly and monthly basis; the development of major project plans and Gantt charts; the Executive Mayor’s (ad hoc) monthly meetings with MMCs to discuss progress on various projects; and regular meetings in which the tracking specialist briefs SEDs and REDs.
These initiatives make it possible for the City leadership to have at all times a hands-on feel on the organic dynamics surrounding the implementation of our service delivery agenda.
As a consequence, to date we have been able to make timely adjustments and unlock whatever bottlenecks that might have otherwise threatened our programmes. It is on this basis that we are also on course to spend about 95% of our capital expenditure.
One significant measure of administrative capacity is sound financial governance, as this speaks to the ability to manage resources efficiently and effectively to safeguard value for money. Pursuant to this indispensable goal, for the past three years in succession, the City has achieved an unqualified audit opinion. This is primarily attributable to the tireless efforts of the administrative cadre at the head of the City.
This attribute also points to the coming to fruition of our efforts to eliminate fraud, wastage and corruption within the City. It is thanks to our commitment to a clean, accountable and efficient administration that we are able to reap these benefits.
A harmonious industrial relations environment is critical to nurturing the kinds of values and work ethos we have committed ourselves to. In this regard, the endorsement of the National Bargaining Council agreement on labour brokers by the local branches of both South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and IMATU is a critical milestone, as this makes possible the completion of the process of phasing out labour broker employees.
This agreement has made it possible for us to institute a two-phased process of absorbing and converting all labour broker employees into permanent City of Tshwane employees. The process unfolded smoothly in accordance with the principles enshrined in the agreement. We hope this will go a long way in energising these employees and according them a sense of duty and purpose to become essential cogs in the City machinery in pursuit of excellence.
We also hope this initiative to live the national ideal of decent work for all becomes a trend setter to our whole society!
Building and celebrating the national capital city
The construction of the new face of the capital city, namely Tshwane House, the new municipal headquarters, is actively underway following the conclusion of a partnership agreement with the Tsela Tshweu Consortium.
Final staff relocation and evacuation of the old Munitoria Building have been concluded in early January 2013 and the building has been handed over to Group Five on 7 February 2013 for demolition procedures in accordance with the terms of an early works agreement signed by the City Manager on 19 October 2012.
In terms of the agreed upon delivery schedule, the new Tshwane House complex will be delivered in two phases, with the Council Chamber and one or two additional buildings delivered by 30 March 2015 and the remainder of the complex, a total of five or six buildings, by 30 June 2015.
The project delivery programme is managed under a detailed Gantt Chart, which is updated every two weeks.
The city has not sufficiently exploited its position as the nation's capital. The city hosts about 154 foreign missions, making Tshwane home to the second most diplomatic missions in the world, second to Washington. Discussions are currently well advanced with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on the delivery model of the government precinct. Two international institutions are expected to take up occupation in the precinct. An announcement on this will be made by June 2013.
The University of Pretoria’s School of Property Management will be commissioned to investigate the best delivery model for the government precinct. The outcome of the investigation is expected by 15 April 2013. This work will inform the final commercial agreements between the City of Tshwane, DIRCO and the developer. The total estimated value of the project is R6,1 billion. Construction of the office park (government precinct), hotels and convention centre is expected to get underway in the fourth quarter of 2013.
African Gateway represents a significant landmark mixed-use development in the heart of Centurion. The project is strategically located on an eight-hectare site close to airports, local rail stations, bus stations and the Centurion Gautrain station. The development concept has matured into an integrated government-convention centre precinct. In order to leverage the economies of scale presented by the location of the site, the size of the convention centre was increased from 10 to 80 hectares.
The Rainbow Junction is another of the catalytic projects aimed at the development of mixed-use development in the Zone of Choice, to the north of the city. To date all six township establishment applications were duly approved. Fifteen phasing applications were approved in December 2012. The service level agreements (SLA) with service departments (two northern townships) are ongoing.
Symbio City is anther catalytic project that entails the conversion of 10 hectares of land, which surrounds and includes the manmade Centurion Lake, into a vibrant mixed-use Symbio City that will link the Centurion Gautrain station with the existing Centurion Mall.
This development aims to provide both high-density spaces and large, high-quality open urban spaces to enhance the residents' quality of life. The proposed monorail system moves away from car-based transport towards lower carbon emissions and the generation of renewable energy from natural resources and building waste to eventually achieve off-the-grid efficiency. The report was approved by Council and is due for public participation. This process is subject to final confirmation of the valuations and further Council resolution for public comments.
The West Capital development was conceived as a response to address the shortage of student accommodation in the inner city and the densification principles in addressing the city’s spatial configuration.
The draft concession agreement as per the appointment letter was submitted by the bidders to the City of Tshwane. The developers proposed a long-term lease as one of the options in the tender document for the development of the identified West Capital land parcels. The ratification report is serving before Council this month to enable the conclusion of the development agreement with the preferred bidder.
We entered into a development partnership with AGCEP in 2004 for the development of the Tshwane International Convention Centre (TICC) and associated land use in the Centurion node. The City has also processed a report to increase the size of the Tshwane International Convention Centre from 10 000 to 80 000. In order to unlock the development of the node, the City is busy finalising the Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan to be completed in April this year.
Promotion of sound and good governance
Our obdurate commitment and single-minded focus on the promotion of sound and good governance are beginning to yield conclusive and encouraging results. Following the approval of our fraud prevention strategy, several measures were immediately put in place to cement the foundational pillars of this vital instrument in our quest to run a clean, efficient and accountable administration.
A toll-free hotline has been secured and the appointment of a service provider to administer the hotline is underway. A marketing strategy for the fraud hotline is in place and is currently being rolled out. We have also expanded our internal capacity to a 52-member complement to carry out investigations relating to fraud and corruption.
We have undertaken measures to implement the recommendations of Ethics SA on the implementation of mandatory articles of the King III code of good practice covering ethics, risk and legal compliance. In this respect, we have drafted a whistle-blowing policy that awaits ratification by the relevant structures. We have also established a fully functional Risk Committee. An integrity champion has recently been appointed by the City Manager to promote an ethical culture in the City of Tshwane. We have put in place policies on conflict of interest, and the annual disclosure and declaration of interests and gifts by staff.
All these interventions are consistent with our war on fraud and corruption and we hope to pursue it with more vigour until we have eliminated this cancerous malaise.
Promoting and fostering participatory democracy
The city administration is not the only role player in the realisation of our goals; the other role player is the multitudes of citizens throughout the length and breadth of the city. We have always undertaken measures to promote active citizenship based on the firm belief that the citizens are the ultimate guarantors of their lives and interests.
As a crucial part of this undertaking, we committed ourselves to establish initiatives aimed at the strengthening and preservation of civil society formations. We might all recall the critical role played by non-government organisations in political change in our country, working with organs of people’s power. These formations continue to play a crucial role in strengthening the foundations of our democracy.
In addition to a range of measures implemented to strengthen our institutional presence at ward committee level, we also deemed it fit to constantly measure the extent to which we are responsive to the needs of communities through the utilisation of the results of surveys that measure the levels of satisfaction with our service provision.
Promotion of safe and secure communities
One of the burning issues on our agenda with respect to safe and secure living in the city was the situation at the Schubart Park flats.
Arising from this, we have engaged with Schubart Park residents and used all means provided by our democratic system, including the decision by the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court, to pursue meaningful discussion to resolve matters of dispute.
We are still engaged in consultations with the Schubert Park residents as directed by the Constitutional Court, and appointed a facilitator to manage our engagement. In this regard, we would like to thank the Rev Frank Chikane for agreeing to mediate and facilitate long-term equitability in the areas of disagreement.
The deployment of traffic wardens through our partnership with Radio 702 and OUTsurance has made it possible for our Metro Police officers to focus on high-end priorities. In 2014 we want to expand on the OUTsurance project and ensure that it creates job experience and exposure for our youths through “a day on the job.”
Pursuant to the ideal of a safe and secure city, we adopted the ward-based deployment the Metro Police to increase police visibility as part so as to fight crime and intensify by-laws enforcement. Our medium-term goal is to increase the number of Metro Police officers from the current 1 600 to 3 500 by 2014.
Accordingly, the City will be graduating 530 Metro Police recruits by October of 2013, who will be immediately deployed on foot and bicycles in the various wards to help tackle crime at community level. Another 1 000 officers are to be recruited by June this year. Once they complete their two-year training, these officers will bring to full fruition our vision of ten Metro Police officers per ward.
We will continue to expand the use of technology in our crime prevention strategies. In this context, the City will extend the deployment of CCTV cameras to most parts of Tshwane, beginning with the eastern suburbs and major public facilities.
To further strengthen the City’s crime fighting and by-law enforcement capacity, we have renewed the ageing Metro Police fleet, and acquired motor bikes, bikes and even horses to meet the operations and administrative needs of the Metro Police.
Health and social transformation
Our approach to promoting healthy communities prescribes that each of the 105 wards in Tshwane should have one or more primary healthcare outreach teams comprising a professional nurse, environmental health and health promotion practitioners as well as six community health workers.
The implementation of the programme will place priority on areas identified as hard to reach and those designated as poor and vulnerable communities. It is proposed that the ward based primary health care be rolled out within the period of five years. The current seven outreach teams represents the first phase of implementation; further implementation of the 42 outreach teams in 42 low income wards represents the second phase; with the last phase to be executed in the last 56 wards.
The City has set out to refurbish a number of primary health care facilities. Of those identified, remarkable progress has been realised on the following: Danville clinic –construction work currently underway; Olievenhoutbosch clinics – all preparatory work completed, contractor appointed in November 2012 and site handed over; Pretorius Park clinic – work completed, opening delayed pending approval of building plans the issuing of certificate of occupation; Nellmapius clinic – work completed and although the clinic has been opened for patients and staff upon approval by the Gauteng province, there is still a challenge with water storm drainage which is receiving due attention.
The city will look to increase access to health services through the expansion of the coverage of Community Healthcare Workers, and ensuring that these health volunteers get a consistent stipend for their efforts. This intervention will be undertaken in partnership with the recognised health sector NGOs.
The fight against substance abuse must be intensified. Nyaope is ravaging our communities, the addicts are becoming younger. The fight should be taken to the drug lords through intensive enforcement efforts whilst looking to rehabilitate the users who are essentially victims. Through consultation with community organisations; the city will be initiating a set of interventions to prevent the spread of the use of Nyaope.
Our City has been chosen by the national department of health as one of the pilot project for implementation of National Health Insurance is part of the five key priorities for government in the current electoral mandate.
With respect to the recreational space within previously deprived communities, we view the greening and beautification of neighbourhoods as a central part of the development of such communities. We have adopted the concept of two parks per ward in an effort to redress the backlog emanating from the previous planning dispensation.
In this regard, the process has commenced after necessary procurement process has been completed and we are confident that by the end of the current financial year a reasonable progress would have been made as a major building blocks for ensuing years.
Our vision is for these neighbourhood parks to have standard features such as ablution amenities, ablution blocks, walking trails, playground equipment and requisite park furniture.
Provision of sustainable social infrastructure
The success of our social and economic development agenda requires that we continuously renew our social and technical infrastructure, which in turn implies ever present ability to attract and retain investments.
Sustainable infrastructure includes providing infrastructure that protects residents from adverse weather conditions and ensuring little interruption to their normal life. In this regard, the city has heard the cries of our people regarding gravel roads and absent storm water drainage systems.
We remain committed to tarring all roads in the areas of Soshanguve, Mabopane, Winterveld and Ga-Rankuva by the end of the 2015/16 Financial Year. These townships have inadequate road and storm water infrastructure which results in the flooding of properties during rainy periods. This major storm water system is one of the networks in pursuit of addressing the backlog of infrastructure in these townships as a result of growing number of housing developments. Designs, EIA and WULA for identified areas have been completed and are ready for implementation.
An amount of R329 million to tar 47,2 km of roads and 67,2 km storm water drainage will be provided in the next Financial Year. A few gravel roads in Mamelodi will also receive Storm water and tarring funding in the same period.
All the major public transport routes in the areas of Hammanskraal and the former Metsweding areas will be tarred from June 2014, with work on the remainder of the internal roads commencing in July 2014.
As part of Re Kgabisa Tshwane project, we set out to upgrade the whole section of Paul Kruger Street between the Pretoria Station and the Pretoria Zoo to demonstrate how we intend to fundamentally adapt, shape and improve the inner city to be more accommodating to non-motorised commuting.
The planning phase has been duly completed and construction should commence early in the next financial year pending the recommendations of the technical team established to ensure alignment with the design of the BRT lines.
Another fascinating aspect of the City’s pursuit to unlock development is the Special Rating Area policy that the City is applying. The purpose of Special Rating Areas is to allow an additional rate to be levied on property in the defined area to raise funds for improving or upgrading the area as stated in section 22(1) (b) of the Municipal Property Rates Act 2004.
We have concluded the prescribed public participation process in order for the policy to be submitted to Council for consideration in the coming financial year.
As we embark on this drive to attract partners for development, we owe it to our partners (current and future) to ensure that the values of their properties are maintained or appreciate over time. For this reason, the City has completed a Derelict Buildings By-Law that is currently subjected to public participation before final approval by the end of the current financial year.
Madam Speaker, we have identified strategically placed parcels of land within the city for release as tools to unlock development. These strategically located land portions will support the strategic objectives of the City of Tshwane.
Designated land portions in the West Capital Precinct have been earmarked as catalysts to unlock development through a process of developing reform strategies which, amongst others, will alter the inner city urban spatial dimensions.
This process is characterised by high-density mixed development of retail, commercial, office and residential uses. The plan responds directly to the plight of the student community in the city in line with a study which indicated that the city has a student accommodation backlog of about 66 000 beds.
The West Capital Precinct development is the third game-changing initiative. It will significantly alter the spatial form of the city and fatally undermine apartheid spatial planning. The poor will be located in the inner city, and environment-friendly uses of open spaces and a heavy bias towards mass transport and non-motorised transport will prevail.
Economic transformation, growth, investment and industrial development
Poverty has been a persistent phenomenon in recorded human history. On the eve of the twenty-first century, more than one billion human beings trickled into the ranks of extreme poverty and hunger. Despite unrelenting interventions, it is evident that our social systems (both at national and international levels) are incapable, or unwilling, to produce a meaningful and sustainable change toward poverty eradication.
The history of efforts to eradicate poverty emphatically demonstrates that we cannot effectively do so without transforming the existing patterns of accumulation and distribution of wealth. Hence any sensible attempt to eradicate poverty should aim at altering the ideological, material and institutional basis of the current social systems, including the patterns of production, distribution and consumption.
The Nobel laureate and distinguished economist Joseph Stiglitz had this in mind when arguing in his latest book – The Price of Inequality, that ‘it is the responsibility of a presiding political to correct and not reinforce inequalities’. Instructively, Stiglitz further notes that for an inclusive economic system will not emerge from immutable laws of nature but will require most crucially, the regulation of markets to shape their functional dynamics in a way that promotes an egalitarian social and economic order.
As the City of Tshwane, we have undertaken a number of programmatic initiatives to transform our social and economic base and will continue to do so until we have laid sound foundations for an inclusive economic system.
On the occasion of the centenary of the infamous 1913 Natives Land Act, we will accelerate the process of restoring land to the dispossessed covering various aspects of the tenure reform, with provision of title deeds for business and residential purposes.
We will also accelerate efforts towards shared economic growth by preferring Co-operatives over contractors in the delivery of urban management services. Co-operatives will be exclusively used in the cleaning of cemeteries, cutting of grass and cleaning drainages. The city has reviewed its Supply Chain Management policy to impose a minimum of 25% of contracts to be directed at youth, women, people living with disability and Cooperatives.
Although the Census 2011 suggests that the city has one the lowest rates of unemployment levels in the country; the city continues to seek ways of defeating this scourge. Having achieved a total of 23 500 employment opportunities in the last financial year, the city will look to increase this figure to 30 000. Our innovative Vat Alles initiative which produced over 3 000 job opportunities has been recognised by national government. A reward R29 million has been received in this regard, this money will be added to current Vat Alles provision of R60 million to create an additional 1500 job opportunities.
It's only through increased investment that the city will be able to produce more enduring decent employment opportunities. The city is looking to increase investments from the 2011/12 figure of R1,3 billion (already at R2.2 billion) to R1, 5 billion in the 2013/14 financial year. A marked increase in investment is another indication of business confidence in the management of the city.
An enabling climate for investment is critical for economic growth and social development within the City. For that reason, the City of Tshwane has embarked on a number of initiatives to cultivate the necessary conditions to promote the desired outcomes.
The City has taken a conscious decision to develop and promote a partnership with the automotive industry due to its strategic importance to the City and also, to the country as a whole.
Madam Speaker, although the world economy is still under pressure and only sluggishly recuperated from the crippling effects of the great recession, the City has seen new investments worth a total of R4 billion from the following:
The Tshwane Jobs Fund Strategic Framework was approved by the Mayoral Committee in order to leverage private and public sector funding to raise R1 billion in the course of the programme.
With the establishment of TIDA and the pronouncements in the State of the Nation Address and the Budget Speech, we are now in the better position to move with speed to address matters facing our youth.
We have completed the review of the Investment Enabling and Leveraging Incentive Strategic Framework in order to attract and stimulate investment in the city in a manner that will crowd in and leverage private sector investment in the development of the city.
The City officially opened Phase 1 of the Tshwane Market’s agro-processing facility on 15 November 2011. Agro-processing is a sector that not only contributes to economic growth but, most importantly, is central to industrial development, food security and job creation. There are currently 12 agro-processing and pre-packing businesses established at the Tshwane Market, accounting for 261 jobs.
The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) remains a key initiative for empowering communities while rolling out much needed infrastructure in the City and Townships. In the 2011/12 financial year, 38 000 work opportunities were envisaged, and for the political term of office ending in 2016 the target is 375 000 work opportunities. As at the end of quarter two, about 7 000 work opportunities have been created. During the period under review, 450 SMMEs graduated from the Tshwane Enterprise Development programme offered by the University of Pretoria, and additional 250 SMMEs will undergo the capacity building programme before 30 June 2013.
A total of 252 business entities were mentored, which includes the number of beneficiaries who benefitted from the City’s mentorship programme with UP (203) and Institute of Business Advisors (49 mentorship contacts concluded since the State of the City Address).
A project was piloted in partnership with Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) for 150 street traders to sell Coca-Cola-related products at City’s trading sites. Traders are provided with training & necessary equipment to service customers in line with the City’s by-laws as well as ABIs specifications.
We have now appointed the City of Tshwane Youth Agency, with a clear directive to see to it that all the programmatic activities of the city embody and advance the interests of young people as the future of our society. The chairperson of the agency has assumed duties and we look forward to more advocacy and policy work from the Agency.
Building smart and sustainable cities
The Census 2011 result have revealed what all development cadres and social scientists have always forecasted: Unsustainable rapid urbanisation that is taking place, reveal that 63% of the population are living in urban areas and the 20 year horizon forecasting an urban population of 70% by 2030.
This reality means that whilst rural development remains a priority of government, national integrated urban development framework to assist municipalities to effectively manage rapid urbanisation, is long overdue.
The City is putting in place revitalisation plans of the three towns namely, Cullinan, Rayton and Bronkhorstspruit. These plans will be incorporated into the respective Regional Spatial Development Frameworks, as an immediate and long term response to these challenges
The City is developing a Green economy strategy and programme in partnership with Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) & United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) wherein CSIR will project manage the process and the CSIR had been appointed to develop the City’s Green Economy Strategy. The CSIR has already completed Scoping and Visioning phases of the project.
The draft strategy was made available for public comment in May 2012, and already proposes that at least 2% of the City’s GVA is set aside for green and environment-sensitive activities through strategic procurement, investment, building control regulations and technologies, and skills development.
A new SED for Greening has been appointed and assumed duties in January 2013 to further develop and co-ordinate the work of the city around this important area. Our sustainability priorities for this financial year will include; community outreach and calls for action on green lifestyle and behaviour, calculation of our carbon footprint and active steps towards carbon neutrality through the introduction of efficiency measures in our energy, transport, waste and other economic development services and activities.
We will also explore ways of collaborating with the department of environmental affairs and the Development bank of SA, and target increased investment and development funding for our green growth path.
Technology remains a key strategic tool of this century in the quest for bettering the lives of our citizens. Consequently, the City has taken a strategic decision to embrace the Smart City concept.
Broadband will form the backbone for most of our Smart City initiatives, with priority placed on those parts of the city with a strong rural texture. We have already deployed in excess of 500 kilometers of fibre through our Smart City project, which has resulted in significant savings over the last three years by connecting buildings and infrastructure on City-owned networks and by making use of our own infrastructure as opposed to outsourcing voice and data communication.
The city will move away from traditional manual processes to embrace new paperless processes driven by principles of cost savings, efficiency and velocity. We should offer our clients the flexibility of multiple electronic payment options to stay in a strong position to accelerate the collections cycle and reduce payment processing costs, while at the same time achieving the strategic advantage through competitive differentiation.
Enabling E-services will allow ratepayers to transact with the City electronically covering among other issues: receipt of statements and electronic payment of accounts; procuring of prepaid electricity using any hand-held device, presentation of statements and payment of traffic fines etc.
A commitment was made to provide public internet access. Of the 72 sites that were identified, 69 sites have been connected. The remaining 3 were left out because of the current infrastructure challenges in region 5 and 7. However, we have recently found a solution (using Telkom) that will connect region 5 and 7, work is currently underway.
Provision of basic services, water and sanitation
Provision of clean and safe water for drinking is a priority given the centrality of clean and safe drinking water for the sustenance of human life. To date, water connections have been made, mostly to residents in Regions 1 and 2 where the backlogs are severe. Those who are living in areas that receive water through community taps are targeted for upgrades to yard connections.
The current anaerobic ponds of the Ekangala Waste Water Treatment Works have been declared unacceptable by the Department of Water Affairs. The new Ekangala Waste Water Treatment Works is under construction to provide treatment capacity for the current and future waterborne sanitation systems in Ekangala and Zithobeni. "
Another problem that faced us towards the end of last year was the Rooiwal sewer spill into the Apies River, resulting in farmers complaining of contaminated borehole water. We vowed to be responsive and, as we speak, the situation at the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) has drastically improved.
Much of the equipment has been repaired and the City will keep a close eye on the situation until an extension and refurbishment of Rooiwal WWTW worth R950 million is completed in 2015. Both internal and external efforts are being concerted to rehabilitate the deteriorated Centurion Lake and restore it back to its original wetlands river status.
Promotion of culture and celebration of diversity
Madam Speaker, as you will recall, the City commenced with renaming 27 street names in order to bring in inclusivity in the names of the core capital streets in 2007.
We can now report that we have finalised the renaming process and wish to proceed with other street names and complete the 2007 process by December 2013.
On the question of the Tshwane/Pretoria name change, we have concluded audience with the Minister of Arts and Culture to provide clarity on his assertion for further consultation. We commit to inform the residents of Tshwane and the country on the outcomes of our engagement with the Minister.
We have established Heritage Advisory Council to help the City to identify, preserve, protect and promote diverse and precious cultural heritage and legacies.
We will be completing the Solomon Mahlangu precinct with a view to elevating it into a fully-fledged Heritage Site. Heritage Impact Assessment submitted for approval to PHRAG is work in progress.
Livelihoods and sustainable human settlements
Urbanisation can be a positive force for economic development leading to necessary social change and positive political outcomes for a number of reasons: larger cities attract more talent; larger cities have the ability to attract increasing investment levels; larger cities have the requisite network to stimulate economic growth and advance development through upward and downward linkages. Recent research indicates a positive correlation between economic development and urbanisation in most African countries. In Asia, urbanisation has been the major factor behind economic growth, contributing to a reduction in poverty rates.
The spatial reconfiguration of the City remains not only central to undermining the historical legacy of apartheid, but most importantly to creating sustainable livelihoods and human settlements. In our case, this made even more imperative after the recent incorporation of Regions 5 and 7 of the City. We aim to create economic corridors and bring people closer to the city by developing the necessary social and technical infrastructure to facilitate a sustainable social and economic urban space.
The city has been recognised as the best performer in relation to the spending of the Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG). In the 2011/12 City spent 98% of this grant. We aim to improve on this impeccable achievement in the next financial year and exponentially increase the number of beneficiaries.
Madam Speaker, the creation of a clean, healthy and safe environment is inseparable from the dignity and integrity of our communities. To this end, the City has embarked on a number of interventions towards the realisation of self-sustained, cleaner and healthier communities.
The total eradication of informal settlements remains an important goal of our work during the current term of office. Our citizens deserve places of residence that are fully serviced with title deeds. As for delivery through the concept of serviced stands, the City has so far ensured stands receive both water and sanitation as part of formalisation.
The City also promised to issue title deeds to those who have been living in such houses, this work has proceed excellent but not without challenges. To date, many title deeds have been transferred to owners, and we appeal to residents to start coming forward.
To date, 2 686 new water connections were made mostly to residents in regions 1 and 2 where the backlogs are severe. Those who are staying in areas that receive water through community taps are targeted for upgrade to yard connections. So far 181 were upgraded.
From July to December 2012 a total of 28,335 million of water network pipes were upgraded of the 40,000 million planned for the year. National Treasury has approved an amount of R82 million for the following Tsosoloso Programme projects which we have implemented fully.
Nellmapius Clinic Extension: R10 800 00,00
HM Pitje Stadium Precinct: R11 850 00,00
Non-motorised transport, Phase 2: R12 500 00,00
Refilwe Business Node Landscaping: R9 900 000, 00
Nellmapius Skills Development Centre: R12 550 00, 00
Nellmapius Recreational Centre: R12 400 00, 00
Stanza Bopape Library IT Centre: R6 000 000,00
Upgrade of the Tsamaya Activity Spine, Phase 1: R6 000 000,00
The City has also received approval of business plans from the National Department of Tourism for the development of Mamelodi Rondavels at R9 million, Moretele Park Upgrade R9m and GaMothakga Resort Upgrade R10 million.
Implementation of these EPWP projects commenced in February 2012 and they have completed by the end of the year.
Power to the people - ensuring security of energy, electrification
The issue of access to electricity is at the heart of modern forms of life and inevitably a reliable measure of the extent to which there are tangible improvements in the quality of life of a people.
The City has started with the provision of electricity in informal settlements. This year, households in informal settlements such as Brazzaville, Itireleng, Letlotlo and Rethuseng will benefit from the electrification programme.
With respect to those areas that are directly supplied by Eskom, we in partnership with Eskom has committed an amount of R1,559 billion over a period of five years towards strengthening and refurbishing projects in pursuit of the City’s goal of universal access.
To date 2 686 new water connections were made mostly to residents in regions 1 and 2 where the backlogs are severe. From July to December 2012 a total of 28,335m of water network pipes were upgraded of the 40,000m planned for the year.
The City will be spending R323 million to completely eradicate the backlog in informal settlements. The City of Tshwane has started with provision of electricity in informal settlements. This year, 6 500 households in informal settlements such as Brazzaville, Itireleng, Letlotlo and Rethuseng will benefit from the electrification program.
Brazzaville 1 800 connections, Itireleng 1 503 connections, Letlotlo completed, Rethuseng, Eskom currently busy and Orange Farm/Boikhutsong 552 connections completed.
Furthermore, additional 3010 streetlights and 30 high mast lights will be installed respectively across the city including informal settlements to the tune of R30 million. Achieved - 3 075 new streetlights and 45 high mast installed.
A total of 1,6 million CFLs, have been rollout and Eskom is busy with a sustainability programme already on this programme we have committed a rollout of additional 200 000 CFLs, 15 000 Solar Water Heaters have been rolled-out. Achieved by Eskom and City of Tshwane installed 18 986 SWH 30 338 streetlight retrofitted and 336 traffic intersections to date.
Development and maintenance of good quality road infrastructure
The development and maintenance of good quality road infrastructure is critical for the betterment of the overall quality of life of all the citizens of the city. We deliberately prioritised the eradication of roads infrastructure backlog especially in those previously neglected areas of the city. To this end, more than 16km of roads and storm water systems have been successfully completed in a number of areas where the backlogs were particularly severe.
Construction work is currently proceeding on schedule for the upgrading and doubling of Maunde Road and should still be completed within the target date of end September 2013.
We have also made concerted efforts to effectively attend to the challenges of dolomitic sinkholes in Region 4. In this regard, Jean Avenue and Basden Road are the most recent incidences. With these two being amongst the busiest roads in the city and given the scale of inconvenience; we had to move swiftly to resolve the problems and restore normality to the facilities.
The Jean Avenue and The Basden Road sinkholes have been completely fixed, the site completely rehabilitated and the roads re-opened to the public. The Bus Rapid Transport system is one of our catalytic projects and to date construction from the CBD to Menlyn via Sunnyside and Hatfield has commenced and expected to be completed by the end of June 2013.
We are currently at advanced stages of resolving technical issues related to the rolling out of further BRT infrastructure with the following links: CBD to Rainbow Junction, CBD to Hatfield and University Road to Menlyn.
With respect to actual vehicles to anchor the system, the procurement of the first BRT buses for the implementation of the overall BRT system is firmly in progress.
An efficient; reliable and safe bus service, complemented by other smart transport interventions will act as an enabler for the BRT as part of an Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network.
Tshwane bus service is receiving our immediate and urgent attention. The turnaround will address the need to replenish some part of the fleet and retire some other part; introduction of electronic fare collection; scheduling of routes and overall management at Tshwane Bus Service.
We have also, through the Metro Police, embarked on operations to close down illegal taxi ranks that have been mushrooming recently. Taxi associations are being reallocated to alternative places to reduce congestion in specific areas.
Celebrating our heroes and icons
In line with National Priorities of looking after the affairs of military veterans, we have honoured our commitment to allocate houses for Military Veterans in Ga-Rankuwa Extension 24, Thorntree and Winterveld.
We will continue to identify new ways to provide socio-economic support to these heroes of our struggle for freedom, so that they too can be part of the story of our future.
We are once again elated, by the performance of the matric class of 2012, who against all odds, made us and the nation proud, by passing with flying colours, once again congratulations and good luck!
As we did the previous year, we hosted the Annual Mayoral Matric Awards, where we recognised learners, now readying themselves for new heights at the various institutions of higher learning – They indeed remain detonators of our excellence.
We also today, in our midst have invited our City’s heroes and icons, who have excelled, in the feeds of politics, sports, arts, business etc. They remain friends and family members of the City.
As a country we also were saddened by the untimely departure of our national heroes and icons, like Amina Cachalia and Phyllis Naidoo, who led the great women march to this city in 1956.
We may also take this opportunity to salute those men and women who have died in the protection of our lives and livelihoods. The following metro police Officer and emergency and rescue heroes are now at a better place. May their souls rest in peace.
On education and training
Hearty congratulations to the province of Gauteng for producing the best matric results in the country in 2012. The District of Tshwane once again produced the best matric results of any district in 2012, a testament to the assiduous efforts of the class of 2012, the educators and parents. The National Development Plan is clear about the importance of Education and training as a key foundation for social development and progress.
Given the high footprint of Further Education and Training institutions in the city, the city will collaborate with these FET institutions to use the City as site of training. Given the budget and size of the city, a minimum of 500 students from FET institutions will be given training opportunities in the city on an annual basis.
Student accommodation continues to be a major pressure point to all the higher education institutions in the city. The city has appointed developers as part of the West Capital to amongst others provide accommodation to 7 000 students in the city. We approved a report for the redevelopment of Marabastad as part of West Capital Development. This includes the development of Student Accommodation as a direct response to the backlog of student accommodation which is estimated at 60 000 beds.
At the end of due process, a consortium was appointed in 2012 to develop the precinct whose first phase of construction will commence 30 months from the first of July 2013 upon completion of all preparatory work. As part of our efforts to help cultivate a healthy learning environment, we will, through our EPWP initiative, commit about 300 workers to help in the cleaning and maintenance of schools and provincial public healthcare facilities. The initiative is aimed at helping these institutions to direct resources at delivering their core mandate. The Executive Mayor will be signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the relevant provincial MECs to give legal effect to this initiative.
Major Cities are turning to knowledge based institutions to enhance their own socio-economic development and build sustainable economic futures. Research and academic institutions within the City’s boundaries engage in research projects that generate a plethora of knowledge in the various segments of the City’s economy and the research results or outputs are not efficiently fed back and shared to inform policy and advocate change.
Tshwane as a capital city has a competitive edge to lead the knowledge economy in the country as we hosts four of the seven public higher education institutions namely Tshwane University of Technology, University of Pretoria, University of South Africa and the Medical University of South Africa. Tshwane also hosts the highest concentration of science councils in the country including the Council of Industrial and Scientific Research, Agricultural Research Council, South African Bureau of Standards, Water Research Commission, Human Science Research Council.
Further the first Science and Technology Park in Southern Africa is also located in the City of Tshwane. Given this high concentration of academia and research centres, the City has adopted an explicit emphasis on the knowledge economy, which is more reliant on knowledge, innovation and skills for the future as merited.
In this current financial year we have already stepped forward to discuss to engage the Vice-Chancellors of the academic institutions to discuss our intent to set up a think tank that will harness the power of these institutions to assist the City moving forward.
There is commitment from the institutions to conclude the Memorandum of Understanding. We hope to soon finalise work towards the establishment of a Think Tank with UNISA, UP and TUT to help in practical research, innovation, governance and best practice. The city will look to provide initial funding to help kick-start the initiative, issues such as domicile and structure should be resolved in the next three months.
We are also in the process of exploring the potential alignment of the Tshwane Leadership and Management Academy as a subsidiary of the Think Tank. The Think Tank will consider issues related to long-term planning interventions, such as water scarcity, tariff determination, energy sustainability, electricity provision within the context of a holistic perspective of the City.
Further the City is committing an amount of R2 million to the partnership with The Innovation Hub to create a platform for communities particularly the youth of Tshwane to engage with the city to find smart solutions to some of the challenges that the city is faced with such as alternative sources of energy etc. This partnership will also provide support to those who submit ideas that are implementable. To us innovation is not just about creative ideas but the implementation of the creative ideas to better the services that we provide to the residents in the city.
Tshwane 2055 vision
The importance of long range planning has clearly emerged as one of crucial ingredients to successful nations and cities. We thus initiated the Tshwane 2055 Vision to amongst others articulate and give effect to the following:
- the National Development Plan & Vision 2030;
- the New Growth Path;
- the Gauteng Economic Growth and Development Strategy; and
- the Gauteng City Region Strategy.
All of these strategies and policies are premised around the objectives of eradicating poverty, create employment and reduce income.
Tshwane 2055 framework and drafting road map for phase 2 has been conceptualised and finalised including key activities to support and augment the development of the final document. The completed revised Tshwane 2055 strategy launch target date being end of June 2013 which entails the following deliverables: main document, popular version on the eve of the third decade of democracy
Madam Speaker, on 27 April 2013, our country will be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of that momentous founding moment of our new society in 1994. This marks roughly a year before the final curtains falls on the second decade of freedom. The countdown has earnestly begun and we are officially on the eve of the third decade of freedom and democracy.
The impending third decade also marks the passage of our freedom and democracy from teen hood into young adulthood, and with that come maturity and responsibility. Naturally, we are all looking forward to the coming year with excitement and anticipation. As a society, we have grown accustomed to observing such historic junctures as moments for celebration and contemplation.
Accordingly, we will, as the City, join with the rest of society and the world to rejoice and commemorate our long walk to a social order founded on human dignity, social justice and self-determination. As we enjoy the festival of human freedom, we will at the same time ruminate and engage in self-criticism on our journey to cultivate a better life for all our people.
We will do so with a view to produce a dispassionate balance sheet of our successes and failures to serve as a framework on how best to accelerate social and economic transformation into the third decade and beyond. Necessity dictates that we firmly retain the high standards we set for ourselves so as to continue to be a living testament and shining example to the world on how best to build a socially inclusive and economically equitable democracy.
Madam Speaker, an emblematic aspect of the short twenty years of our democratic experience is the exponential growth in the global prestige and stature of our society. Over this period, our country has taken up its rightful place as one of the vanguards and leading nations with respect to the true meaning of democracy in the 21st century.
To that effect we have emerged as a compelling social, economic and political force in international affairs, attested to by our principal roles in both the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) among other global and multilateral institutions.
In this context, two important developments are worth noting. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity which has since mutated into the African Union.
The year also marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. As the capital city, we play host to a large family consisting of both the AU and UN in South Africa and for that reason, in conjunction with national government, will explore ways of observing these developments in a manner befitting their stature.
We also look forward to the hosting of the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban later this month with great anticipation as the forum creates opportunities for the City to explore co-operative relations and strengthen friendships with our counterparts elsewhere in the four other member countries.
Conclusion
Madam Speaker, distinguished guests and fellow citizens of Tshwane, we placed before this eminent assembly an inventory of our exertions to ignite excellence and impel our city towards our medium term vision of the city as a fountain head of excellence.
This catalogue of pursuits constitutes for us mandatory elements towards that vision. They form a foundation upon which to ossify the edifice of that vision – a fountainhead of excellence. We developed and undertook these programmatic measures because we were and remain convinced that our people deserve better.
Our term of office remain holy dedicated to this vision, meaning we remain ready to spare neither strength nor courage to see to its actual realisation. Yet, we remain vigilant to the reality that between our collective vision and its actual realisation stands a dark shadow of incredibly diverse factors that must be consistently surmounted.
This wisdom we possess thanks to the insights of the founding president of the new South Africa, NR Mandela who noted that at the beginning it always seems impossible until it is done’ and went on to observe that “after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” With the shoulders of such a giant in our service, we can only remain obdurately focused on our mission.
We are also cognisant that ours is a long and hard road, with no certainties and guarantees of success. It is a road punctuated with advances, setbacks, failures and incongruities.
Our readiness to ride such waves as and when they materialise has and will be inspired by the teachings of the recently departed African literary genius, Chinua Achebe who taught that ‘contradictions, if well understood and managed can spark off the fires of invention. Orthodoxy, whether of the right or of the left variant, is the graveyard of creativity.’
We have drawn inspiration from these towering sons of the African soil for their exemplary service to humanity. Theirs endures as monumental emblems of what it means to selflessly and tirelessly give one self in the service of others.
Madam Speaker, we are also acutely aware that for a culture of excellence to permanently manifest in our daily practices requires that we embed the ethos of integrity and moral rectitude as essential markers of our bureaucratic and political DNA as the city.
In this context, the last word appositely belongs to the founder and secretary of the African Party for the Liberation of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, Amilcar Cabral, and we wish to quote him substantially for the completeness of his message: “We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of … life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”
Madam Speaker, these are the ethos we hope to nurture to guide the way we conduct the common affairs of our city as mandated by the citizens of Tshwane.
We aim to approach the remaining part of our term of office by honouring the wishes and aspirations of our citizens guided by these supreme values.
We invite all our citizens, both individually and collectively as youth, women, students, unemployed, faith communities, business community, and knowledge community to join us in making these values an emblematic aspect of their daily conduct!
Forward to a city of excellence!
Thank you!
