I rarely respond to people who pay no price for being wrong and who traffic in flippant name-calling, but Sam Mkokeli’s column, “Ineffectual Lesufi is making us pay for his populism,” (Business Times, December 1) demands that I make an exception. This article is populated with falsity and propaganda that cannot go unchallenged.
First, Mr Mkokeli attacks me personally following the Gauteng provincial government’s launch of the “adopt and protect a robot” campaign, a public-private partnership (PPP) to fight traffic congestion, vandalism of road infrastructure and lawlessness. He called this project a gimmick that is not worthy of Gauteng. The least he could have done was to ask about the programme and not sound ignorant.
He makes frivolous accusations and overlooks that adequate infrastructure, particularly road infrastructure, is needed to ensure economic growth. Roads play a crucial role in contributing to economic development and growth. Traffic light systems improve safety by regulating traffic flow. They have several social benefits that help improve citizens’ quality of life and minimise conflicts between road users.
As an economic columnist, one would think Mr Mkokeli is aware of Operation Vulindlela, which is credited with ending load-shedding and rebuilding rail and water networks, which are government responsibilities.
He sounds perturbed by the idea of PPPs and feels that this South African government policy cheats and overburdens the private sector.
If he had read the 2023 annual budget review, he would have noted that the National Treasury clearly states that PPPs are essential to revitalising the economy and meeting the National Development Plan 2030 goals.
It’s all very well to be publicly and fashionably militant about e-toll debt, but motorists were not paying, and the infrastructure was deteriorating faster
When I became Gauteng premier in October 2022, I listed and elevated five priorities in the “growing Gauteng together” action plan. These elevated priorities are economic recovery and reconstruction; strengthening the battle against crime, corruption and vandalism; overcoming lawlessness; changing the living conditions in townships, informal settlements and hostels; prioritising health and wellness; and strengthening state capacity.
The robot adoption campaign speaks to most of these elevated priorities. It is not about self-elevation, as Mr Mkokeli believes; it is about honouring our commitments to the people of Gauteng by introducing innovative solutions and creating working partnerships with businesses and communities.
I also promised greater service delivery and increased engagement with citizens and various sectors of our population. This elevated engagement speaks to accessibility, accountability, responding to the people and communicating truthfully and consistently. This has broken the monopoly that some people have had and abused for years of telling one-sided stories to the people of Gauteng.
Mr Mkokeli then accuses me of populism regarding the scrapping of tolls. He deliberately uses the term “populism”, a term of disparagement usually used by political enemies to attack those they view as opponents. In doing so, he defines himself and his posture more than he realises.
This e-toll programme is more than a decade old; the first boycott was organised in 2011.
Second, e-tolls were never a provincial programme but a national one, so finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced the legal discontinuation of the toll programme in October 2022. Former transport minister Sindi Chikunga published in the Government Gazette a notice concerning the withdrawal of the toll declaration of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Projects, popularly known as e-tolls, on April 11 2023.
Our intervention, first led by former premier David Makhura, was not driven by populism but by pragmatism. Noticing that this impasse was causing increasing financial costs and impeding the maintenance and expansion of our road network, we worked with the national government to find a solution. Admittedly, it is not a cheap solution, but it has allowed us to move away from the impasse that was undermining infrastructure development.
It’s all very well to be publicly and fashionably militant about e-toll debt, but motorists were not paying, and the infrastructure was deteriorating faster.
Solving the e-toll funding impasse was not anyone’s crusade but a vital intervention to address backlog maintenance and allow the government to explore adequate and stable funding solutions for road construction, maintenance and upgrades to support economic development.
Gauteng’s economy has shown its resilience under successive administrations because of innovative solutions that Mr Mkokeli would prefer to call gimmicks.
We are undeterred in our quest to fix the infrastructure and the economy of the province and will not be distracted by professional naysayers who believe in their virtue.
• Lesufi is the premier of Gauteng
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