One of the earliest challenges facing Mayor, Herman Mashaba’s administration in the City of Johannesburg is the blatant act of sabotage from some senior officials working against the new administration, at the expense of residents.
On top of that, the City’s unfunded infrastructure backlog from the previous administration sits at R170 Billion over the next 10 years. City Power is locked in a R500 million dispute with the Receiver of Revenue, which has already seen the entity’s financial position deteriorate. The City of Johannesburg has one electricity sub-station that supplies the entire Inner City of Johannesburg. The sub-station is 75 years old, 30 years past its useful lifespan.
Since the City only has R10 billion to address a R170 billion shortfall, it has to implement urgent intervention measures to address the challenges.
These measures include:
- Establishing a professional public service to serve residents with pride;
- Getting the City’s Municipal Courts functioning again so that the rule of law can be maintained. In the next few weeks these courts will be will re-launched back into operation;
- Intensifying the City’s fight against fraud and corruption;
- Fixing the City’s billing system to ensure residents are correctly billed, and that the City recovers the R5-R10 billion that is lost annually due to under-valuation and non-billing of properties;
- Declaring war on criminals who vandalize and steal the City’s infrastructure; and
- Kick-starting the City’s economic revival by turning the City into a construction site to ensure the long-term provision of low-cost housing and to create job opportunities in the interim.
I want to see that the construction that is going to take place around our City, affords young people the opportunity to be trained as plumbers, electricians, brick-layers, and the like. I want to see them gaining experience from this, and being able to make a living from these skills, and give them a hand-up to participate in our economy.
– Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Herman Mashaba