Have your say on City Region

The Gauteng City Region’s ambitious long-term development plan has been released and the public is asked to submit comments.
Gauteng residents have been urged to make submissions on the Gauteng City Region (GCR)’s long-term development plan, called Gauteng Vision 2055. The discussion document (G22055) was released for public scrutiny and the public participation campaign and Vision 2055 logo were launched on 24 May.

Gauteng premier launches Gauteng 2055Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane launches Gauteng Vision 2055Through various public participation forums headed by the Gauteng Planning Commission (GPC) and including imbizos, the community will be informed of the contents of the draft document and will be able to make comments and submissions. The consultation process will run until November 2012. The draft document will also be subject to scrutiny by the provincial legislature.

Speaking at the launch, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said all residents should be afforded an equal opportunity to make a contribution.

“We want everyone living in or [who comes] from Gauteng to be part of this process and make their voice heard and this includes big business, women and children, people living with disabilities, labour federations, political parties, young and old and everyone who is part of the GCR family,” she said.

Publicity campaigns will target taxi ranks, shopping malls and other public areas and community radio station and newspapers will be used to publicise the campaign.

Mokonyane cautioned that government should not be viewed as a “delivery truck” but should work with the general public to advance service delivery. “By presenting statistics of delivery alone, we run the risk of conveying a message that ‘delivery’ is the sole responsibility of government.”

The document details four focus areas:

Equitable growth is aimed at growing the economy and creating jobs;
Social inclusivity and cohesion deals with transformation and equal rights, opportunities and status for all;
Sustainable development and infrastructure includes the built environment, transport, ICT and energy, services and integrated human settlements; and
Good governance addresses governance and leadership in both the public and private sector and is aimed at enforcing accountability, accessibility and transparency.
Mokonyane said Gauteng is heading in the right direction economically. “Our province is described as the economic heartland of the nation – contributing 33.9 percent of national GDP [gross domestic product], while the wider GCR [Gauteng City Region], within which our province falls, contributes approximately 43 percent of national GDP, reflecting the value of this wider space for national prosperity.”

Vision 2055 is guided by the National Planning Commission’s long-term National Development Plan, “Vision 2030”. Mokonyane said the GCR’s Vision 2055 will run concurrently with other long-term strategies including the City of Joburg’s growth and development strategy for 2040.

Giving an overview of Gauteng Vision 2055, Rashid Seedat, head of the Gauteng Planning Commission (GPC), said the plan had the potential to create jobs.

Young people should play an active role in the economy, said Seedat. “Young people should be in forefront, running big business, creating jobs that will contribute to the development of the Gauteng City Region.”

Phutas Tseki, another member of the GPC, said Vison 2055 will ensure that everybody enjoys the rights contained in the Freedom Charter. “The doors of learning and culture should be opened to everyone. We want to see every child having access to education, from primary level until tertiary level.”

The full discussion document as well as an abridged version is available to the public at the Gauteng Provincial Government offices at the corner of Simmonds and Fox streets, Johannesburg. It can also be downloaded from the G2055 website.

Comments can be made online and via Facebook and Twitter: @G2055vision, or by calling 0816 G2055.