2009-01-20: City's response to DA report card
THE Democratic Alliance's 2009 Report Card is an unscientific and biased analysis on the City of Johannesburg.
The City of Johannesburg has made considerable strides since the first mayoral term (2000-2005).
Johannesburg's economy has grown by more than 6% per year in the last two years, reaching 6, 4% growth between 2006/07 and 2007/08. This growth has been driven by a range of sectors. This includes construction, finance and business services.
The City received a clean qualified audit report in the year ending June 2007 and there after the City of Johannesburg established practices to ensure ongoing achievement of clean audits. A year later, in 2008 the City received its first unqualified audit since the establishment of the metropolitan form of government.
Both the City's short and long-term international credit ratings have improved and they stand at AA+ and F1 short-term, which simply means our financial position, is very strong and positive.
The indigent households receive a package of 10 kilolitres of free water per household per month and a 100 kilowatts hour of free basic electricity.
The success of the City's many development initiatives such as the Early Childhood Development Programme, our Job Creation, Career Guidance and Skills Development programmes and our targeted assistance directed towards youth-headed households in the city are having a measurable impact on communities.
A good example is the success we have achieved in our TB programmes where the cure rate has improved from 54% in 2002 to 74% in 2007/2008.
Progress has been made in creating emergency shelter for residents of the City. Two emergency housing developments were completed in Diepsloot during 2006/07. During 2007/08, the City delivered 1 188 emergency housing opportunities, many of these in the Inner City and Alexandra.
Progress has been made in creating emergency shelter for residents of the City. Two emergency housing developments were completed in Diepsloot during 2006/07. During 2007/08, the City delivered 1 188 emergency housing opportunities, many of these in the Inner City and Alexandra.
At the end of 2007/08 about 84% of the 1 169 048 households in the City had access to water, and 76, 7% had access to adequate sanitation. A total of 78, 4% of all houses have electricity (inclusive of Eskom supplied areas).
In addition, other dedicated law enforcement teams were also established to address park safety, as well as illegal connections of water and electricity.
Furthermore, JMPD assigned dedicated police officers to priority police stations such as Booysens, Hillbrow, Johannesburg Central, Honeydew and Moroka, to strengthen the crime-fighting services.
The visibility of policing has also been increased through an operational plan that focuses JMPD patrols at transport nodes, parks, and areas with high incidents of crime. In the area of social crime prevention, metro police officers have been trained in victim support skills.
The City Greening Programme has exceeded expectations. To date, more than 90 000 trees have been planted. Nine new parks were developed, and eleven parks and seven cemeteries were upgraded – clear evidence that the goal of a green city is being realised.
The Urban Management Programme focuses on day-to-day urban maintenance issues such as potholes, broken street lights and uncollected refuse in priority areas such as the Johannesburg Inner City and the Randburg, Roodepoort and Lenasia CBDs.
The City's work on HIV and AIDS is co-ordinated through a functioning Johannesburg AIDS Council chaired by the Mayor and constituted of Members of the Mayoral Committee and individuals drawn from civil society organisations and research institutions.
The City's preparations for 2010 remain on track, on schedule and within budget. A number of local and international inspection teams, observers and media representatives have expressed satisfaction about the progress that has been made.
The City established Section 79 Committees that coincides with the relevant political portfolios to provide political quality assurance and scrutiny on all the work undertaken in the City. This was a departure from the way Council had operated before but the new approach has seen the overall quality of work that the City does being significantly improved.
The City of Johannesburg is well placed for innovation and best practice in all aspects of delivery and leadership.
The City will continue working with residents to ensure the delivery of essential services and strengthening accountability and transparency.
Issued on behalf of:
The Executive Mayor
Issued by:
Nkhensani Makhobela
Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor
City of Johannesburg
Tel: 011 407 7524
Fax: 011 339 5709
Cell: 082 461 7075
