January 19, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
OPPOSITION parties in the council have largely acknowledged that Johannesburg's R21-billion budget, its five-year Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and its longer-term Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) are what's needed to make it a world-class African city.
Members of opposition parties discussed the City's latest budget during an extraordinary council meeting on 25 May. The budget was announced by Johannesburg's executive mayor, Amos Masondo, on Wednesday 24 May.
Opening proceedings, Speaker Nkele Ntingane made special mention of over 30 female scholars present in the chambers as part of the Take a Girl Child to Work Day campaign, as well as a delegation from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Speaking of Johannesburg's vision of becoming a world-class African city by 2030, Mike Moriarty, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the city council, stressed the city's role in the African renaissance and the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
"Johannesburg is the number-one city in Africa and these initiatives will not do well unless Joburg does well," he said.
General support
Moriarty said despite some shortcomings, the DA was satisfied with and would support the budget.
He said the City still had to deal with problems such as power outages following the colder weather, and criminal activity, which was hindering further investment in Johannesburg.
Moriarty said world-class status needn't be put off until 2030. "We can't wait till 2030 to be a world-class city," he said. "When soccer fans arrive here for the 2010 World Cup, they will expect a world-class city, and it can be done in four years."
He added that while the City's IDP aimed to find solutions to its problems, key performance indicators - targets set by departments to measure their progress - were lacking in many departments. The DA hoped the indicators would be revised by September.
Independent Democrats councillor Richard Pillay said the budget's social package was much-needed, and its IDP and GDS "forward-looking".
He said the conclusions of the growth strategy were "very appropriate" for Johannesburg, and that all that was needed now was for all parties to work together to implement those plans.
"If they are implemented properly, we will be on our way to becoming a world-class African city," he said.
Economic growth
Oscar Maseko of the Inkatha Freedom Party commended the City for sustaining an economic growth rate that was higher than the national average, adding that the new budget confirms Joburg's position as the country's economic hub.
"If it was not for the backlog from the period of crisis, we would have been far ahead," he said.
He said challenges needing urgent attention included eradicating informal settlements, improving hostel conditions, combating illegal dumping and rehabilitating mine dumps.
To applause, Maseko congratulated the council for Johannesburg's clean administration, free of mismanagement and corruption. "We are on the right track," he said. "We now need to address poverty and put more emphasis on skills development."
The African Christian Democratic Party also gave its support for Joburg's bumper budget, with representative Darryl Strydom saying the party embraced the mayor's passion for leadership and his plans to make the city world-class.
He was, however, concerned that 47% of the City's budget went to core administration. "We need a smaller but more efficient administration," he said.
Masondo responds
In reply, Masondo said: "I really appreciate that the opposition have given their support for the budget and I believe that more will be achieved during this term of office."
Responding to the issue of power failures, he said the problem was often "not properly understood".
"People speak about outages as though they are unique to Johannesburg. However, we have seen that outages lasting hours have even occurred in cities like New York, Los Angeles and London."
Masondo said the City had committed itself to renewing ageing infrastructure, while expanding services to previously disadvantaged areas. In the current financial year, City Power will spend over R700-million on its electrical infrastructure.
Johannesburg's executive mayor, Amos Masondo, responds to reaction to the City's budget
He called on the issue of power outages to be raised in a way that better educated councillors and the public about the situation.
He added that government was also fully committed to eradicating informal settlements and ensuring provision of basic services, while also converting old mineworker hostels into family units.
Masondo also welcomed Jerome Bwanausi, mayor of Temeke municipality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who was present to observe proceedings, which coincided with Africa Day.
"I appreciate the support shown here today," Masondo concluded. "Let us ensure that we work together and not just limit our support to words. If we work better together the world-class African city we envisage will happen sooner than later."
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