December 23, 2004
By Thomas Thale
THE year 2004 was one of celebration for Joburg, as the city hosted events to mark the centenaries of Soweto and of the Zoo - as well as, of course, South Africa's 10th year of democracy.
And the news that South Africa had won the bid to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the final of which will be held at Soweto's Soccer City, sparked mass euphoria.
For residents, the prevailing mood of celebration and optimism was heightened by the record low interest rates and the buoyant economic climate throughout the country.
The City of Johannesburg joined in the celebrations, popping champagne corks to drink to the success of two newly issued bonds worth R1-billion each. The bonds went on to come first and second in the prestigious Bond of the Year Awards given by the Bond Exchange of South Africa. Mankodi Moitse, the City's acting executive director of finance, says R1,04-billion of the money raised was used to refinance the City's expensive debt; the remainder was used to capital funding.
After years of walking and driving on dirt roads, residents of Soweto had reason to smile as they saw their streets being tarred as part of the campaign to eliminate gravel roads spearheaded by Mayor Amos Masondo. Hennie Van der Skyf, a senior manager of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, says the city has tarred 264km of Soweto's 349km; the rest will be surfaced in 2005.
Joburg Water's similar programme to upgrade water infrastructure in the township had mixed results. The campaign received much flak in the media as community activists, opposed to the installation of the prepaid meters that formed part of the Operation Gcin'amanzi project, embarked on numerous protest marches. Despite this, the operation went ahead and new infrastructure has now been installed in many parts of Soweto.
Jameel Chand, Joburg Water's spokesperson, says the project has led to a reduction of 79% in unaccounted-for water in Phiri alone, saving the city 220 million litres in four months. The four-year, R450-million project is expected to save the City R170-million in water bought from Rand Water annually.
The long delayed, R2-billion Cosmo City housing development project, which is north-west of Randburg, finally got a legal nod when the Johannesburg High Court dismissed an application brought by property owners to stop the process. They had argued that it would compromise the value of their properties. The law has cleared the way, resources have been allocated and construction on the project looks set to start in earnest early in the new year.
The City was in the spotlight again when Masondo received a vote of confidence from his peers at the South African Local Government Association, which elected him to lead the body.
On a more sombre note, Joburg, and indeed the whole country, was thrown into mourning when it lost some of its icons in the course of the year
The outpouring of grief started in February when Karabo Gwala a three-year old boy from Dube, in Soweto, died after falling into an open sewerage hole while riding his bicycle. After this tragic incident, the City embarked on a programme to identify and close all open manholes.
Aggrey Klaaste, a veteran journalist and chairperson of the Joburg Tourism Company, passed away in June after a long illness. He was 64. Klaaste's abiding legacy lies in his nation-building campaign, which he undertook from 1988, when he was editor of the Sowetan.
Beyers Naude, the anti-apartheid cleric and city freeman, died in September after a long illness at the age of 89. Oom Bey, as he was affectionately known, will be remembered for rejecting the racist dogma of his church, the Dutch Reformed Church, and of the Afrikanerbond, thus forfeiting all privilege. He chose to pursue a lonely path, fighting for justice and non-racism, and for that he was ostracised by his community. His stirring funeral at the Aasvoelkop Dutch Reformed Church in Northcliff was, ironically, a homecoming to the church that had rejected him and a vindication of the ideals he cherished.
But the municipality was not always in the news for the right reasons. Perennial billing problems dogged the administration: residents complained of incorrect accounts and accused the council of failing to resolve their grievances. The soon-to-be-established Revenue Shared Services Centre will be tasked with, among other things, resolving billing problems.
Another major news story was the violent protests that erupted in Diepsloot early in July - after rumours spread that families were to be moved to Brits. The riots threw the spotlight on housing delivery. The City is now fast-tracking a multi-pronged solution to the critical issue of housing around Joburg. This involves supporting provincial RDP projects, carefully planning settlements, providing infrastructure, building low-cost housing and implementing the national policy on subsidised housing. In August, the council approved a consolidated list of 189 informal settlements and housing projects around the city, the first step towards achieving its target of formalising informal settlements within the next three years
Residents in parts of the city also had to endure numerous power outages as the aged electricity infrastructure failed to cope with increased consumption. The City has started upgrading the infrastructure, using some of the proceeds from the municipal bond issue, but it will take some years before this is completed.
The troubled relationship between the City and informal traders continued to dominate news headlines, despite the City providing street stalls for hawkers. Although the two parties have set up the Informal Traders Forum to discuss concerns, the hawkers' protest marches continued and the Metro Police occasionally removed hawkers from restricted areas. Sol Cowan, the councillor responsible for the inner city, is confident that the relationship between the City and hawkers is improving. "They have their issues, and we have a policy to roll out. But we are holding workshops to find common ground."
Residents who had applied to have their boomed gates legalised finally received the verdict from the council in October. Mavela Dlamini, the managing director of the Johannesburg Roads Agency, says the City approved 46 applications covering 71 road restrictions that affected 85 roads. But 38 applications, involving 107 road restrictions, were rejected.
Local-government elections are scheduled for late 2005, so the year promises to be even more exciting. One of the City's many goals will be to meet its target of having an unqualified audit report. And early in the year, all eyes will be on the mayor's state-of-the-city address, where he will reveal what is in store for the city's residents.
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