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The City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Councillor Jolidee Matongo, has called on officials to recommit themselves to fighting underperformance, corruption and all other forms of malfeasance in the local government institution.

Delivering his acceptance speech at the City’s 50th Ordinary Council meeting, Mayor Matongo said he and the city’s executive have pledged to be leader-servants, who will lead by the maxim that whoever wants to be the greatest among them must be the servant of all.

“The proverbial mayoral chain is not a symbol of prestige, but rather a reminder of the commitment to serve the people of our great City.”

Mayor Matongo acknowledged that in the recent past, the City has regularly found itself in pages of newspapers and news TV screens for all the wrong reasons. Some of these reasons relate to service delivery failures as well as changes in political and managerial leadership in the City.

He said while there might be changes at a political leadership level, both the political and management team at the helm remain committed to the vision captured in the City’s Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) 2040.

Mayor Matongo indicated that as the City awaits the Constitutional Court to make a ruling on the date of the next local government elections, all officials are expected to continue using the time left to the end of term to pursue progress in the delivery of services to the people of Johannesburg as committed for the financial year underway.

“Continuity is our byword. We continue along the lines of the priorities listed by the Government of Local Unity when it was established in December 2019 - with a special focus on a 10-point strategic direction for the coalition. These include Good governance, financial sustainability, integrated human settlements, sustainable service delivery, Job opportunity and creation, safer city, active and engaged citizenry, economic development, sustainable development and smart city,” Mayor Matongo said.

The Mayor said he remained intolerant to any misuse or abuse of office for personal gain at the expense of the people of Johannesburg.

“The arrest over the weekend of our health department employee at the Parkhurst Clinic for selling fake Covid-19 certificates is just the latest in what we can assure residents will be a concerted war against criminal and unlawful behaviour in the City,” Mayor Matongo said.

He added that Group Forensics and Investigations Services (GFIS) is already working on tipoffs related to other Johannesburg employees who have sought to use their office and position for their own narrow and criminal interests.

Mayor Matongo also announced that as a way of tackling both concerns and acknowledging the role of military veterans in the fight for democracy, the City’s Public Safety department is set to soon roll out a programme of training military veterans as supporting agents responsible for by-law enforcement in the inner city. It is envisaged that the programme will later be expanded to other central economic hubs in the City. Furthermore, through the Johannesburg Roads Agency, the City will be training 350 young people to accelerate road markings across the municipality.

Following Statistics South Africa’s release of a report showing that unemployment has risen to 34.4%, Mayor Matongo expressed concern that the recent figures have serious implications for the City. He said this was because many more people from across the country and beyond would be coming to Johannesburg in the hope to improve their fortunes.

“The implications for Johannesburg are that we must create job opportunities at a rate higher than the national average. This is in addition to the increasing demand for basic service delivery due to a growing population number. We cannot do these things on our own. We invite the private sector to join hands with us to come up with ideas to grow our economy and meet the demands we face as a City,” the Mayor said.

Issued by The City of Johannesburg