Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says the government has flagged Alexandra, the Joburg CBD and Sharpeville as areas of concern that need to be fixed, otherwise the province would have failed.
Lesufi was speaking in Johannesburg after a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet to discuss issues of service delivery in the province, where Ramaphosa issued a stern rebuke to the provincial leadership, telling them to “make our metros presentable” because the eyes of the world will be on the province as it hosts G20 meetings.
“Sometimes it is good to be direct and to tell it as it is. I should say one or two G20 meetings I attended here was not pleasing. The environment that one observed was not pleasing. I say this so that we improve immensely.”
Lesufi apologised to Ramaphosa, saying the government knew the areas that needed improvement.
“We have already put a team, we have already put CCTV cameras. We have agreed with a joint team between ourselves and the mayors to deal with this issue. But we are not dealing with this issue specifically for G20,” he said.
On Alex, the CBD and Sharpeville, Lesufi said: “They are areas that we really believe that national [government] is going to support… Cabinet felt that heritage sites are no longer at the level where they’re supposed to be and they deposited them as areas in which we need to improve. We had an interactive committee [meeting] that was fruitful, that guided us and I’m convinced that the ball will start rolling.”
He acknowledged the persistent service delivery and infrastructure problems in the province, and said government coordination, accountability and capacity building are central to fixing them.
Lesufi said key focus areas included public service efficiency, job creation and critical infrastructure improvements. He said there was a need for better coordination between different levels of government, admitting that disconnects between national, provincial and local leaderships have previously hindered service delivery.
“The limitation was there was disjointment between national, provincial and local governments. Today, we had a session led by the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs [Velenkosini Hlabisa] to bring all these institutions under one roof so that we can plan together, budget together and execute together,” Lesufi said.
He said the province is working towards a capable and efficient state, dismissing criticism that government initiatives were for elections.
“Many people don’t read our documents. It was not an election ploy. It’s our opponents [who say that]. Because they can’t match the debate, they will use those things. We advertised close to 1,600 vacant posts. We have identified 547,000 new jobs that we’ll be advertising. So it’s continuous,” he said.
In his speech, Ramaphosa said there are recurring problems in Gauteng which include governance failures, financial mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure, crime and lawlessness and unreliable service delivery.
“Our greatest challenges in Gauteng are unemployment and poverty … challenges we must all focus on. It is the single most critical economic hub and serves as a powerhouse of finance, governance, industry and innovation.
“The economic success of Gauteng is integral to the economic success of our country. If Gauteng fails, SA cannot succeed,” he said.
SowetanLIVE
0 Comments