The Gauteng Executive Council on Wednesday, 23 September 2009 met in an ordinary session in Johannesburg. The meeting was chaired by Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and attended by all 10 members of the executive council.
The Executive Council received a briefing by the South African Police Service on the Gauteng crime statistics. The statistics show that there have been decreases and stabilisation in some categories of crime including murder, attempted murder and street robberies while there were increases in business robberies, residential robberies and truck hi-jacking.
The Executive Council is concerned about the high levels of crime in the categories of residential robberies, business robberies and hi-jacking. Even in the categories where there have been decreases and stabilisation the numbers are still far too high and unacceptable.
The high number of incidents in the categories of social crime, especially domestic violence, remains a big concern and requires urgent attention. There have been increased incidents of violent attacks in schools. Government urges the police to increase security measures in all schools. The police must ensure that no one is allowed to take weapons to schools.
Gauteng is a unique province which requires a unique approach to fighting crime. More than 50% of all reported crimes in South Africa are in Gauteng. Yet Gauteng has more and better resources to fight crime. There are three metro police departments which should be supporting the South African Police Service (SAPS) in fighting crime. Gauteng also has a high number of private security companies which should also be working with the police in fighting crime. Pooling of all these resources and improving co-ordination will contribute a great deal towards a solution to the crime problem.
The Gauteng Provincial Government has already had discussions with the national police commissioner about the need for co-ordination of all our efforts to fight crime. We agreed with the commissioner that we would work towards a mechanism that would allow for joint operations and a single line of command in Gauteng. This will ensure that all security forces work together on crime prevention operations led by the SAPS.
We will soon meet again with the national commissioner to finalise plans for a Gauteng policing mechanism.
The Executive Council received a report on the state of finances in Gauteng. The report shows increasing cash-flow pressures in a number of departments especially the departments of Health and Social Development, Education and Roads and Transport. The cash-flow has been exacerbated by accruals from the previous financial years and demands for payment of goods and services in the current financial year.
The Executive Council has requested that departments put in place measures to ensure proper financial management. These include proper management of contracts and more accurate expenditure planning. All heads of departments were reminded that as accounting officers they will be held liable for any financial mismanagement including overspending by their departments.
The Executive Council noted that the Gauteng Provincial Government owes money to a number of municipalities in the province relating to services, rates and taxes. The unpaid rates and taxes resulted from disputes around billing and valuation of some of the properties owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The Executive Council has mandated the MEC for Infrastructure Development together with the MEC for Finance to urgently attend to the issue of payment of all outstanding municipal accounts.
The Executive Council was briefed on the plans for the October Transport Month programme. The transport month highlights various aspects of public transportation in terms of impact on the economy and social cohesion. Government will use the transport month to demonstrate the improvements made to the public transport system, focussing on safety, reliability and efficiency.
A number of events have been planned throughout the month of October including the transport indaba, the opening of Cosmo City Public transport facility and the environmental awareness day. The highlight of the events of the transport month will be the car free day on 20 October 2009. The car free day will demonstrate the benefits of using public transport and highlight the challenges that still need to be overcome in order to have an efficient, reliable and safe public transport system.
Tomorrow we will be in Khutsong to celebrate Heritage Day. The purpose of the event is to encourage reconstruction and reconciliation amongst the people of the area.
The events of the day include a prayer meeting at the Khutsong Community Hall at 7:45 and will be followed by a formal programme including cultural activities at the Khutsong Stadium from 9 am-3 pm.
For more information contact:
Thabo Masebe, Office of the Premier
Cell: 082 410 8087
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
23 September 2009
