2010-01-19: City of Johannesburg's response to DA "Scorecard Report"
THE Democratic Alliance's 2010 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) to this second Mayoral term 2006-2010.
The City of Johannesburg has for the last seven years been conducting surveys to measure satisfaction levels with service delivery amongst households and businesses residing and operating in Johannesburg's area of jurisdiction. These surveys enable the City to identify key challenges and priority areas related to service delivery. These surveys are done by an independent institution.
Johannesburg's economy has grown by more than 6% per year in the last three years. 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 thereafter 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, in 2009 Johannesburg received unqualified audit. We are hopeful that Joburg will receive another unqualified audit in the year 2010.
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 City of Johannesburg received the Vuna Awards in 2007 and 2008. We first won the provincial Vuna Awards and then represented Gauteng in the national competition. These Awards suggested that the City of Johannesburg must be doing something right.
In June 2009, the City hosted a successful 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. During the Confederations Cup, Joburg hosted the official opening ceremony; semi finals and the official closing ceremony.
The City's preparations for 2010 remain on track and on schedule. A number of local and international inspection teams, observers and media representatives have expressed satisfaction about the progress that has been made.
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.
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. Progress has been made in creating emergency shelter for residents of the City.
At the end of 2008/09 about 90% of the 1 169 048 households in the City had access to water, and 80, 7% had access to adequate sanitation. A total of 80% of all houses have electricity (inclusive of Eskom supplied areas).
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's Greening Programme has exceeded expectations. To date about 175 000 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 City's work on HIV and AIDS is co-ordinated through a functioning Johannesburg AIDS Council chaired by the Executive Mayor and constituted of Members of the Mayoral Committee and individuals drawn from civil society organisations and research institutions.
In October 2009, the City of Johannesburg established the Johannesburg Migration Advisory Committee chaired by the Executive Mayor and constituted of Members of the Mayoral Committee and individuals drawn from civil society organisations, other government departments and migrants across Johannesburg. The Johannesburg Migration Advisory Committee is a body that is mandated to come up with a strategy and to develop regulations and procedures aimed at co-ordinating and promoting integration of migrants across the City and to oversee its implementation thereof.
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 of Johannesburg will continue working with residents to ensure the delivery of essential services and strengthening accountability and transparency.
Released on behalf of the Executive Mayor by:
Nkhensani Makhobela
Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor
City of Johannesburg
Tel: 011 407 7524
Fax: 011 339 5709
Cell: 082 461 7075
