Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said on Monday that his government of provincial unity should work hard to tackle the socioeconomic ills afflicting the province.
He identified cable theft and vandalism, nonfunctional traffic lights, potholes, crime and lawlessness, proliferation of informal settlements, gender-based violence and femicide, drug abuse, lack of schools, service at hospitals and clinics, failing infrastructure and unemployment as the problems that needed urgent attention in the province.
Gauteng is grappling with an unemployment rate of 40%, poor service delivery, crumbling water and electricity networks, poverty, corruption and illegal immigration, among others.
Lesufi said he and water & sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina had taken “drastic decision to allow City Power to take over the electricity supply of the Eikenhof pump station, while Eskom will take over the Emfuleni pump station to immediately restore power”.
“It is the power failures at these water pump stations that have led to the challenges of depletion of water in our reservoirs. We are at an advanced stage to repair leaks and replace ageing pipes. Since this intervention, water is gradually coming back to our homes,” Lesufi said.
On cable theft, he said his administration had shut down more than 1,000 scrapyards for noncompliance, and had closed nearly 600 spares shops and 149 tyre shops operating illegally.
He said the provincial government had identified more than 400 traffic lights requiring immediate replacement. A budget and a team had been set aside for the project. Potholes would also be fixed across the province, thus putting “thousands of people to work while fixing the key routes”.
The province has invested more than R1.2bn in energy infrastructure, “directly affecting over 43,400 households and reducing the burden of load-shedding”.
Lesufi said crime fighting efforts were on course and in addition to national co-operation, the province would go a step further by “signing a memorandum of co-operation with the SAPS and municipalities to ensure we effectively fight crime. Each municipal law enforcement agency will be able to operate across boundaries”.
“Together with the private sector we have identified and profiled 442 kingpins who are causing the worst crimes in our province. These 442 crime kingpins are responsible for cash-in-transit [heists], kidnappings, hijackings, rented murder, ATM bombings, blue light gangs and business robberies,” the premier said.
“Instead of waiting for them to commit crimes, we have put full-time surveillance around them. Of the 442, we have already arrested 50 and we are monitoring the rest closely. Thanks to the partnership with the private sector through Business Against Crime SA and the private security industry.”
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said Lesufi failed to acknowledge that the issues he raised were ANC-created problems.
“While he is spot on identifying issues, we don’t trust that the solutions for these problems will be implemented.”
Msimanga said Lesufi’s inaction against corruption and incompetence is eroding the hopes of the people of Gauteng.
“His speech was more hot air and did little but show that Lesufi and his minority government will not do much to improve the lives of the residents of Gauteng.”
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