Ekurhuleni mayor promises investment and jobs amid service delivery crises
Is the City of Ekurhuleni really committed to restoring service delivery, driving economic growth, and empowering its residents?
Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, the Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni, gave the State of the City Address on March 27 at the OR Tambo Precinct Civic Centre, in Germiston.
The mayor outlined investment into the city of Ekurhuleni, which he said will lead to job creation. He also spoke about service delivery which is a key issue in the city.
The State of the City Address was interrupted by protestors who demanded that the title deeds for their government flats be handed over to long-time residents of Germiston.
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Nonetheless, the address took place and the following aspects formed part of the mayor’s address.
Economic outlook
The Gauteng province remains the economic hub of the country with a population of over 15 million. It has a high unemployment rate of 33.7% which is above the national average.
To address this, the CoE recently hosted the second Ekurhuleni Investment Conference, which provided a platform to showcase the city’s diverse investment opportunities and demonstrate its commitment to addressing infrastructural challenges.
The conference facilitated agreements aimed at driving infrastructure development, economic transformation, and investment within the city.
Economic development opportunities showcased at the conference include Urban Renewal, the Aerotropolis project, the Renewable Energy Generation Programme, and Township Economic Development.
This is despite individuals queuing at the Department of Labour in Marshalltown daily to either apply for grants or to collect from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
This indicates employment is a precarious situation in the city.
The rise in SRD Sassa grant applications is also an indication of a need for more jobs.
Service delivery
The CoE is committed to building a responsive city that works with agility to restore service delivery to the people.
The city’s six key strategic pillars are designed to achieve this goal.
These pillars include the provision of quality and sustainable services, rebuilding a strong financial base, conducting essential repairs and maintenance of public facilities, investing in critical infrastructure, economic development growth and job creation, and preserving good and ethical governance.
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The city has made significant progress in addressing service delivery challenges, including the installation of electricity in informal settlements, the repair of streetlights, and the maintenance of roads.
However, more needs to be done to address the challenges facing the city. Water and electricity supply issues are a daily problem throughout Ekurhuleni. The city struggles to maintain infrastructure like roads and traffic lights.
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This is a direct result of infrastructure degradation which is a result of a lack of maintenance and development of any infrastructure in the city.
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The Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT) is responsible for water management in the city and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is responsible for electricity reticulation.
Both these departments struggle to cope with the demands of the city. There have been cases where no water is available to residents in different areas across the city, water tankers are deployed late and at different locations, leaving those without cars to walk distances to get water. While electricity outages contribute to traffic light vandalism and cable theft.
These service delivery issues cause a domino effect as one problem leads to the next.
Another key issue is burst sewage pipes and sewage dumping taking place across the city, which causes a health hazard.
Infrastructure woes persist, with burst pipes leaking wastewater on roads, in yards and in public places.
The city needs to invest in water pipes, electrical infrastructure and road maintenance to keep its promises of a renewed city.
All these developmental aspirations by the city should also be considered in terms of population density as the city’s infrastructure does not correlate to its population.
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Infrastructure development
The CoE is committed to investing in critical infrastructure to support economic growth and development.
This includes the development of the Aerotropolis, a strategic infrastructure investment designed to secure Jet Fuel supply to OR Tambo International Airport.
The city has also resolved to replenish ageing infrastructure, employ digital technologies to curb the theft and vandalism of network equipment, and upscale its operations jointly with the security cluster to address illegal connections and electricity outages.
As the CoE seek to upgrade and invest in critical infrastructure, residents suffer with daily power outages and no water. Roads are undrivable as potholes are patched up, only to reopen instead of being resurfaced as a long-term solution.
Traffic lights are replaced area by area and are still continuously out of order causing chaos on the roads. Hijacked buildings in the city have also been a major issue, becoming a health and safety hazard for vagrants and residents alike, although some progress has been made to take back some of these buildings, most are reoccupied by squatters, as they don’t get used by the city or get sold.
The city needs to be looking at replenishing existing infrastructure to keep up with the needs of residents.
Governance
The future of the city cannot be fully realised if its finances are not in a good state.
The city has resolved to present a properly funded and real budget while optimising its collection targets.
Revenue protection will also be optimised to eliminate leakages, with a special focus on metering, billing, and accounts tampering.
Rates and taxes are a major problem for residents of Ekurhuleni as water meters are damaged which results in false readings and residents are ordered to pay unreasonable amounts due to this reason.
The pre-paid electricity meters have also been known to create problems for residents as they deplete electricity units faster than expected which ends up causing residents to pay extra for electricity.
Water pipes across the city have aged to the point of no return, which has led to the water crisis the city finds itself in.
As the mayor outlined city development planning in terms of investment, job creation, spatial development and revenue protection, the fact that the city’s residents suffer from major infrastructure and service delivery issues tells a story of a city that might be focusing on the wrong stage of development.
A renewed water supply and electricity supply systems, road resurfacing, improved drainage systems, more efficient policing in high crime areas in the city, the eradication of sewage leaks around the city and lastly job creation is needed. These are the real issues that the mayoral committee need to focus on.
