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Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane on Friday, 1 July 2011 met with mayors from all Gauteng's municipalities under the auspices of the Premier's Coordinating Forum (PCF).
The PCF is the primary consultative forum for the Premier and municipalities within Gauteng where leadership from the two spheres of government consult on matters of mutual interest. The PCF also promotes and facilitates intergovernmental relations and cooperative government between provincial government and municipalities to ensure integrated, effective and efficient service delivery.
This was the first interaction between Premier Mokonyane and mayors since the successful local government elections in May this year.
The meeting noted and appreciated that despite the ever increasing demand for housing in the province, Gauteng continues to deliver quality houses, with no structural defects. Against the national average of 60 000, the province has delivered the highest number of house - a total number of 460 549 housing units have been delivered between 2004 and 2010 and in the next four years (2011/15), the province is planning to build about 330 000 units. On average, the province has been building 76 758 housing units per year in the last six years.
The PCF also reflected on the challenges around the bulk infrastructure in the province. Recognising the burden brought about by poor planning by the previous regime on bulk infrastructure, such as water, sewer system and electricity, PCF agreed that when municipalities put in place plans and budgets for 2011/15, that planning should take into consideration bulk infrastructure development. The case in point is the recent flooding in Orlando, Soweto. The flooding is attributed to ageing infrastructure and poor drainage system.
The need for advance and proper planning is in line with the province's Vision 2055 which puts emphasis on long term planning by government. The meeting also committed the two spheres of government to integrated planning, especially with regards to human settlements.
The Department of Local Government and Housing, in conjunction with various local authorities in the province, is currently in the process of developing Municipal Housing Development Plans that seeks to provide a platform for housing planning which matches the demand and supply of housing in various areas. It will also look at identifying infrastructure requirements as well as the need for socio economic amenities in new human settlements.
Furthermore, the meeting noted the challenges posed by population increase, mainly due to in-migration into the province, as well as the impact this has on services provided by government. The Gauteng Provincial Government will be undertaking a study to ascertain the extent to which the in-migration has on government services in the province.
It was noted with concern the dwindling income generation capacity of municipalities in Gauteng. This is attributable to non-payment of services by consumers. The deteriorating income generation situation impacts negatively on long-term sustainability of municipalities. The PCF has also noted with concern the recent spate of protest actions, notably in Zandspruit and Dube Hostel in Soweto.
These protests are launched under the guise of poor service delivery, when in fact Gauteng has become the victim of its own success. What is even more disturbing is the destruction of property and public amenities. The destruction of public property was a major setback to service delivery and impacts negatively on our efforts to eradicate backlogs.
The Premier and the mayors said while communities have a democratic right to protest, criminal acts would not be condoned. They called on the law enforcement agencies to deal harshly with those who transgress the laws of this country.