January 11, 2005
By Thomas Thale
WHERE is the City of Johannesburg heading in 2005? Expect some major upgrades to roads, the water supply, electrical substations, parks and housing before the year's end.
For Pascal Moloi, the city manager, the moments that will stand out this year are the 50th anniversaries of the Freedom Charter and the Sophiatown removals. These events, says Moloi, provide an opportunity for the city to come to terms with its past by taking positive actions in the present.
"For me, this year, we should close the chapter on setting the basics right. We should be judged on the extent to which we have been able to correct the imbalances of the past."
Moloi says the City will mark the Freedom Charter anniversary by unveiling projects that will improve living conditions in Kliptown, where the charter was adopted.
Aubrey Manganye, the project manager for Kliptown development at the Johannesburg Development Agency, says the projects that will be concluded in time for the celebrations in June are the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, the Tourist Information Centre, the upgrade of Beacon Road, the strengthening of river banks and the construction of parks, a sewerage system, pedestrian bridges and houses.
"All these developments are part of the R450-million Kliptown Development Project," explains Manganye.
The City will also be lining up some commemorative events to remember the 50th anniversary of the Sophiatown removals.
The year will also see the completion of further phases of the multimillion-rand Baralink Project near Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The Baralink project involves the upgrading of the road network, the construction of retail and business nodes, and the establishment of social and cultural activity nodes.
Moloi says the City will be releasing the Orlando Dam intersection precinct into the market to give impetus to the project.
Moloi says the issue of two municipal bonds had enabled the City to increase its capital budget to an average of R2-billion per annum.
"We will spend this money to complete the tarring of Soweto roads this year, to upgrade water reticulation networks and to upgrade the electrical network. We will build new substations and improve the width of cables in areas such as Helderkruin and Ruimsig in Roodepoort. This will enable us to reduce unscheduled power interruptions."
Moloi says he expects Pikitup to complete the rollout of the 240-litre wheeled refuse bins to all suburbs this year. "We will also continue seeking better ways to manage the landfill sites."
Moloi says he expects the City to continue functioning smoothly, notwithstanding the municipal elections scheduled for the end of the year.
"We have done enough in devising systems to isolate and prioritise how we spend the budget. We are unlikely to be unduly influenced by the elections. I do not anticipate any change in government."
Moloi is confident that the mayor has set up successful institutional arrangements in his term.
"We are so well entrenched that even a change in government, however remote the possibility, would not affect arrangements."
On the City's billing problems, Moloi says interventions are beginning to show results. The City took decisive steps by redeploying Ronald Hunter, the executive director of finance, to head the Revenue Shared Services Centre (RSSC).
"This has contributed to us being able to put operational and management structures in place," says Moloi.
Much progress has been made in setting up the RSSC: the board has been appointed and what remains is for the RSSC by-law to be passed as required by the Municipal Systems Act, says Moloi. "We have made good progress in overcoming revenue management issues."
His major concern, though, is that the City did not obtain a qualified report from the auditor-general as planned. "I am disappointed that the revised IDP anticipated getting a disclaimer. But we have done sufficiently enough to reduce the number of disclaimers to four. It would be great to end the term with a qualified report."
Moloi also called on members of the public not to engage in activities that retard progress. "The theft of manhole covers continues to be a problem, especially in remote parts of the city which are not easy to monitor, such as under bridges. I want to make a public appeal for people to desist from stealing covers from meters, storm water drains and pumps."
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