January 22, 2004
By Bontle Moeng
AS part of the council's policy of keeping in touch with the experiences of local residents, Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Masondo held an open forum at the youth centre in Diepsloot, north east of the city, on Wednesday.
Some 1 000 residents packed into the hall, which is still under construction, to hear the mayor outline plans for the city. In return, they told him of their problems, the two crucial ones being a lack of employment opportunities and a need for housing.
The meeting, a follow-up to a road show on Thursday 15 January in which the mayor, several councillors and City officials toured Region 1, which includes Diepsloot, and Region 2, which includes Ivory Park, and inspected various social projects and opened two local clinics.
At the public meeting on Wednesday questionnaires were handed out to residents. These, the mayor said, would help inform the council about problems on the ground. One of the questions was "What is the ONE complaint you would like to be solved in your area?"
The Diepsloot Youth Centre hall was so full that the mayoral discussion was screened to people in adjacent rooms. Video cameras were used to relay questions from the crowd to the mayoral group and allowed for everyone to hear the replies.
Masondo spoke about the City's 2030 strategy, which consists of large-scale plans to uplift and develop the population of Johannesburg, economically and socially. "Johannesburg must be like other cities in the world. It has to compare well with other cities. All cities in the world have a horizon plan, which provides a basis and foundation for a shorter plans."
The mayor went on to discuss structures such as the integrated development plan, job creation, HIV/Aids, good governance, and the renewal and rejuvenation of the city.
Residents then got the chance to interact with the team from the council, with more than 30 people getting the chance to speak directly to Masondo. They discussed the issues of unemployment, the lack of housing and crime. Questions ranged from providing for disabled children to having access to a cemetery, from the lack of jobs for graduates to billing problems.
Some residents asked that the focus of metro projects be expanded beyond Diepsloot and Ivory Park to other settlements such as Zevenfontein, Lanseria and Kya Sands. A young man then handed the mayor a memorandum highlighting problems experienced by the residents of Diepsloot.
Residents also complained about the rise in crime, blaming a lack of police presence in the area. Mayoral committee member Sizakele Nkosi said that a precinct that would house the metro police and Emergency Management Service was still under construction, but it would be completed by March.
Councillor Christine Walters promised to meet with local youth groups to discuss, among other topics, skills development and job creation programmes.
On the issue of crime, Masondo said the presence of surveillance cameras in the CBD had lowered the crime rate by 80 percent. "The metro police have helped a lot in fighting crime. They are not there to take over from the South African Police Service but to supplement their work," Masondo added.
Masondo told the meeting that much progress had been made over the past decade - since the country's first democratic elections - but there was much more still to be done. He said that nationally, in the 10 years of freedom, "95 percent of South African children are in primary school, there are feeding schemes available for underprivileged children, and R94-billion has been put aside for building RDP houses".
Summing up, Masondo said: "We have a plan, we are very clear of where we are going and we are confident about the future."
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