A new mayor and much more

Johannesburg has had an exciting 2011, with a new team running the city. As the year winds down, it's a good time to take stock of how well we are doing – and outline plans for the future.
Executive mayor Parks TauExecutive mayor Parks TauTHE year's biggest news of Joburg's 125th year is that the city got a new mayor. Executive mayor Parks Tau was sworn in on 26 May this year, and brought with him an almost new team to share the responsibility of running the city.

He said: “It will not be business as usual.”

At the time of taking office, Tau referred to former mayor Amos Masondo's achievements: the City had successfully established a record of efficient and accountable administration, stabilised finances, moved from a qualified audit position to a report without qualifications, pioneered the concept of municipal bonds, revitalised the inner city, attracted new investment, significantly reduced crime levels and had taken strong action against urban grime and decay.

At present, 95 percent of Joburg citizens had access to basic services, including quality water, reliable electricity and decent sanitation, he said. Other achievements included changing the city's landscape, through the construction of the Nelson Mandela Bridge, the revitalisation of Constitution Hill, Newtown and Brickfields, to list a few. Joburg also now had an effective Bus Rapid Transit system that offered residents a safe, fast and affordable means of public transport.

Mixed housing developments like Cosmo City and Lufhereng had been built and about 200 000 trees had been planted to address greening imbalances.

Tau's priorities, he said, are turning around the City's ailing billing system, refurbishing and replacing obsolete infrastructure, and continuing with the provision of basic services. The quality of roads would be scrutinised and the ever-present potholes would be patched up. Broken traffic lights would be repaired and culverts and storm water drains would be cleaned.

Rea Vaya would be extended to ensure that all communities had access to safe, affordable and reliable public transport.

He said the City's primary focus would remain “firmly fixed” on human development and improving the quality of life of all people across all regions.

New city manager
Several months later, in October, Tau appointed a new city manager – Trevor Fowler. He said at the time of his appointment: “The biggest challenge is the need to focus on the financial health of the City.”

He is responsible for Joburg's strategic and policy direction, integrated development planning, performance management and high level co-ordination of municipal oversight, and is head of administration and the City's chief accounting officer.

Fowler considers his priorities to be reducing Joburg's carbon footprint in response to climate change; ensuring food security for the city's vulnerable; creating a labour-intensive economic climate; steering a viable economy; increasing access to cultural, recreational and educational amenities; ensuring effective policing and law enforcement; participatory planning and budgeting; and stabilising the health of the City's finances.

“The key competitive edge that Joburg has is that it is a cosmopolitan city and has the vibrancy of people from all over South Africa, but in its history it has people from all over southern Africa that have contributed to its growth; that have come here and lived and it has continued with that kind of history,” he explaied.

One of the City's persistent headaches is the billing issue. “The billing issue has had the effect of reducing people's confidence in the bills that they have and that of investors,” said Fowler.

In late November the City announced a 19-month strategy to improve revenue collection and the accuracy of its billing system to finally get on top of the headache.

The plan foresees that by June 2013, all billing backlogs and queries will have been resolved. “We believe it … will result in an integrated system which clearly serves the needs of our citizens and meets the expectations of our customers, ratepayers and stakeholders,” said Fowler.

Problems identified are the quality of meter reading and the frontline staff. The team will now report directly to Fowler, who will then report to the mayor and his team.

GDS 2040
GDS2040 was launched in AugustGDS2040 was launched in AugustIn August the mayor launched the Growth and Development Strategy 2040. For eight weeks communities across the city were invited to join in discussions on nine themes: economic growth, community safety, resource sustainability, transport, governance, smart cities, liveable cities, environment as well as health and poverty.

This culminated in a summit in October where the Joburg 2040 document charted the long-term path for the City's aspirations, beginning with the current five-year term of office to gauge the City's progress.

The document contains a set of defined strategic choices that frame the five-year Integrated Development Plan, which guides specific five-year operational activities, targets and financial budgets.

“Through a process of collaboration, the Joburg 2040 GDS has emerged from the GDS outreach programme as a strategy that is actionable and bold, and that sets a new strategic path for the City of Johannesburg for the decades to come,” states the document.

Top in productivity
Johannesburg has graduated at the top of its class this year, coming first in the metropolitan municipal productivity index for the fifth consecutive year.

This is according to the data and intelligence service company, Municipal IQ, which specialises in monitoring and assessment of all the municipalities in South Africa. Joburg was rated against the eight other metropolitan municipalities, including Cape Town, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. eThekwini and Cape Town came in second and third, respectively.

The index takes into account five factors: poverty levels and the municipal response to poverty; access to a minimum level of municipal services; economic intelligence, which is the infrastructure used by residents to participate in the economy; financial governance and expenditure levels by local council; and vacancy rates in the municipality.

Joburg's finances
Joburg's finances are healthy despite claims that it is facing a liquidity crisis because it is not collecting enough revenue.

“The cash position of the City has improved significantly in the first quarter of the current financial year. This can be attributed to improved levels in the collection of revenue,” said Kgamanyane Stan Maphologela, the spokesperson for the revenue and customer relations management department, in November.

He added that the number of accurately billed customers has increased significantly - a 102 percent collection level was achieved from July to September.

Strategies are also now in place to improve revenue performance, including “stratified customer base, robust credit control and prioritising the roll-out of smart meters”.

In addition, Fitch gave Johannesburg a long-term local currency rating of BBB+, a national long-term rating of AA-(zaf) and a national short-term rating of F1+ (zaf). It found the economic outlook to be stable.

The portfolio head of finance, Geoffrey Makhubo, said the report confirmed that the City's finances were in a healthy state despite the global recession. “This confidence is also reflected in the decisions of fund managers in the private sector who have in the past year participated in the municipal bonds issued by the City.”

Siyasizana
Technology is to boost the City's ability to help its needy citizens through its Expanded Social Package (ESP), Siyasizana, making it easier for beneficiaries to access the programme's benefits.

Using SMS technology and email, the system will digitally link those with specific needs to services delivered by all City departments, government agencies and non-profit, non-governmental and community-based groups that work with the City.

Siyasizana offers a basket of benefits for residents earning under R3 861 a month and helps indigent households with free basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation.

The City plans to make the ESP register the single access point for at least 500 000 people a year receiving services such as housing, transport and rental subsidies, grants, food security support, education and medical assistance, by 2016.

Rea Vaya
In April, Rea Vaya was honoured with an Encouragement Award by the International Association of Public TransportIn April, Rea Vaya was honoured with an Encouragement Award by the International Association of Public TransportRea Vaya, which turned two in September this year, reached a milestone in February with the first Bus Operating Company formally handed over to the taxi industry – the shareholders of the Phase 1A company.

At the same time, taxi owners handed over their taxi operating certificates and more than 350 taxis for scrapping.

Former taxi owners from the Greater Johannesburg Taxi Council and Top Six Management now own 66,7 percent of the shares in the Bus Operating Company. The balance is owned by the City of Johannesburg. The new bus company, PioTrans, has appointed a board that includes the 13 taxi operators who invested in it.

In April, with its 1 000 000th passenger clocked up, the BRT was honoured with an Encouragement Award at the Public Transport Congress by the International Association of Public Transport in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The award was to encourage and applaud the bus company for promoting the use of public transport in a big city like Joburg, according to Rea Vaya's infrastructure manager, Wonder Matshiga. It was competing against the Gautrain and other African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya.

New parks
Joburg City Parks has worked hard this year on rejuvenating parks for the city's residents. Attwell Gardens Park, a safe haven for youngsters to play and a welcoming spot for adults to unwind in the inner city, was officially opened in August.

Oppenheimer Park in the inner city was also given a facelift. The centrepiece of the park is a small herd of standing and sitting impala, a reference to the leaping impala sculpture that once stood in the park, but has now been relocated to Main Street.

The park is now a people-friendly place, with a basketball court, an amphitheatre for the inner city community to enjoy as an interactive space, and public toilets. Several sculptures bring a cultural element to the park.

In April City Parks also transformed a park that was formerly an illegal dumping ground into the Pimville Xtreme Park.

In one day the space was transformed when 250 indigenous trees were planted, and a basketball court and a mini soccer field were built, playground equipment was installed and park furniture was set up. The picture is complete with paved walkways, grassed picnic spots, braai facilities and a fence around the recreational area.

“Government is about the well-being of people. It is about acknowledging that the changing lives of people require a complex approach that takes into account the extensive needs of the various local communities,” said former executive mayor Amos Masondo at the opening.

This park is the city's fifth extreme park, each one created in a 24-hour period.

Another innovative park, the Rose Street Stimulation Park in Lenasia, opened in early December, with play equipment and pathways specifically designed for disabled children.

Chris Vondo, the member of the City's mayoral committee for community development, said at the opening: "I am confident that this new R700 000 stimulation park, which boasts wheelchair friendly pathways, swings, roundabouts, jungle gyms and landscaped lawns, will be the venue of annual celebrations to highlight the successes and the obstacles in the life of persons affected by disability in the city of Joburg."

Besides receiving a number of awards this year, City Parks has received its 10th clean audit.

To get a clean audit, City Parks had to adhere to internationally recognised accounting and reporting standards, changing legislation and information technology trends, said Rees Clements, the chief financial officer.

JDA's 10th anniversary
The Johannesburg Development Agency celebrated its 10th birthday this year.

The agency has distinguished itself with 10 years of commitment and passion to development and the renewal of the inner city, but also other areas like Soweto and Orange Farm in the south, and Diepsloot in the north.

It has been involved in more than 50 developments in these past 10 years. Some of those projects include the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge, the award-winning Constitutional Court buildings, the Coca-Cola Park sports precinct, the Newtown cultural precinct, taxi ranks across the city, and the Rea Vaya transport system.

All these developments have changed the lives of residents, making it easier for them to get around Joburg, and enjoy what it has to offer.

But there's more to the JDA's success than passion and commitment. "The other thing about the JDA is that we are committed to delivery, and all these people that I've mentioned [former CEOs Graeme Reid and Lael Bethlehem, and present acting CEO Thanduxolo Mendrew], have been extremely committed," said chairman of the JDA board, Luthando Vutula.

Phila the rhino has made a full recoveryPhila the rhino has made a full recovery"I sometimes wonder why the JDA is never given to possibly develop and even manage all the projects of the city because we have the passion, we have the commitment and we also have the track record."

Phila the rhino
And, Johannesburg has contributed in a small way to the preservation of rhinos, under attack in the past 18 months by poachers.

The Johannesburg Zoo has been the nurturing home of Phila, the injured five-year-old black rhino that was brought to the zoo for some serious TLC after it was shot nine times by poachers in two separate incidents in Limpopo in late 2009.

“The zoo staff is happy that this remarkable survivor is soon heading back to the wild,” said Louise Gordon, the zoo's executive manager of marketing and education, in November.

The last word goes to the City's new mayor: “I am humbled and honoured to serve this great city of Johannesburg into this exciting new era, this as we enter the second decade of the 21st century,” said Tau in May.