If Gauteng, South Africa’s economic hub, does not defeat the scourge of crime, its ambitious plans to create jobs and fight unemployment will remain a pipedream. This was the sobering admission made by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday night.
Lesufi made the remarks during the official opening of the Gauteng legislature, held in Katlehong, southeast Johannesburg. He used the sitting to chart a way forward for the seventh administration, outlining key priorities and commitments for the year ahead and the remainder of the five-year term of office.
The sitting comes more than a month after the formation of a minority government in Gauteng that accounts for 33 of 80 seats.
Gauteng’s seventh administration Cabinet excludes the DA, which holds 22 seats in the legislature, the EFF (11 seats), uMkhonto Wesizwe (eight), ActionSA (three), Freedom Front Plus (two), and Build One SA and the African Christian Democratic Party (one each). The ANC has 28 seats.
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“I am fully confident that, under the rubric of the GPU [government of provincial unity], all the parties will spare neither effort nor strength in our determination to translate the next five years into a qualitatively better living experience for the residents of our province.
“It is an absolute imperative that the provincial government of unity live up to its calling by transcending constituent members’ selfish consideration for the greater good of our province. The people of our province expect no less,” said Lesufi.
Before Lesufi detailed plans for the province under the new administration, he listed successes made since his second State of the Province Address in February. These included commitments to end e-tolls and load shedding.
“Today, e-tolls are gone. Last time we met like this, load shedding was a headache, but that headache is now gone,” Lesufi said to loud cheers.
Key takeaways from Lesufi’s 30-page address include:
Governance and accountability
Lesufi said his administration intended to be merciless on corruption and would appoint competent entities for government contracts. That accountability would start with his MECs.
“In the next 100 days, I will be signing delivery agreements with each MEC to spell out the commitments we are making to improve the lives of all Gauteng residents over the next five years. These delivery agreements will be made public and I will hold routine sessions with MECs to assess progress and identify blockages that impact our ability to deliver,” he said.
Infrastructure investment
Over the next two years, the Gauteng government will invest R120-billion on the expansion of the Gautrain to areas including Soweto via Fourways, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Lanseria and Springs.
Lesufi said this expansion was expected to create more than 125,000 jobs during construction over five years. The bid to construct the lines closes at the end of October.
The province also aimed to expand investment in ICT infrastructure by R2.3-billion to roll out a stable network and ICT connectivity across the Gauteng City Region.
“We are broadening access to ICT by providing Wi-Fi connectivity to hospitals and schools and to the 26 proclaimed townships.
“We will soon convene the Provincial Investment Conference to further attract and expand private sector investments. Public-private partnerships remain central to our policy, fostering joint development projects that catalyse economic growth,” said Lesufi.
Interprovincial collaboration
Lesufi said Gauteng’s economy demanded a rethink of traditional models of economic growth and development and that it would connect with neighbouring provinces where there was potential for mutual benefit.
“Given the proximity of Harrismith to the provinces of Gauteng, KZN and Mpumalanga, it offers an e-commerce potential. It is well positioned to become a transport and logistics hub for the movement of goods across provincial borders.”
Lesufi said plans for a Limpopo-Gauteng speed train had entered the feasibility study phase.
“This is expected to create over 18,000 jobs during the construction period. In reality, slowly but surely Gauteng and Limpopo provinces are coming to each other, therefore it should be easy to move from Gauteng to Limpopo and from Limpopo to Gauteng,” he said.
Unemployment and reskilling
Lesufi said almost 130,000 people who were unemployed a year ago had received job opportunities.
“We are ramping up this drive to provide immediate relief to unemployed people in this province while enhancing the delivery of critical social services to the residents of Gauteng.”
While some gains had been made, Lesufi revealed that thousands of teacher assistants who had been employed by the provincial government for the past two years had their contracts abruptly terminated.
“Unfortunately, we lost 32,000 young people who were teacher assistants. We are proud that we were the only province that had extended their contracts. We will open new opportunities for them and other young people of our province with time,” he said.
Gauteng had signed a “groundbreaking” agreement with the National Skills Fund worth R1.1-billion and an R8-billion agreement with the Unemployment Insurance Fund to reskill almost 500,000 unemployed residents of Gauteng, said Lesufi.
“While we realise the potential of this programme, the fiscal constraints are a reality which can only be overcome by aggressively exploring funding opportunities and partnerships. We cannot realise this investment if armies of the unemployed are not reskilled to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Crime and corruption
Lesufi highlighted crime and corruption as a blight on society and said his administration would make crime-fighting its priority.
“We can embark on ambitious programmes to create jobs and fight unemployment, but if we do not defeat the scourge of crime all these will remain a pipedream. I wish to reassure the people of our province that we will continue to ramp up measures to drastically reduce crimes.”
Lesufi said the provincial government had given 250 vehicles to the SAPS to strengthen the fight against crime. It had acquired three helicopters and deployed more than 400 visible policing vehicles and drones to crime hotspots.
“We are hard at work to arrest the proliferation of land invasion and illegal mining, to stamp out drug dealing and drug use, to eliminate the culture of hired killings (inkabi), to eradicate the possession of illegal firearms, to prevent car hijacking, and to emphatically protect children and women from perpetrators of gender-based violence, kidnappers and human traffickers. We will continue to implement the six pillars of the National Strategic Plan on GBV,” said Lesufi. DM
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