Pretoria – Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo has thanked the people of Gauteng for starting to engage peacefully on service delivery as witnessed by a reduction in violent protests in the province.
Delivering his second budget vote speech on Friday, MEC Mamabolo said the provincial government has extensively intervened in the so-called “hotspots” and they have produced results.
“As we speak, there are no notorious hotspots in Gauteng, save for sporadic violent protests. We are working closely with the communities of Bekkersdal, Thembelihle, Boiketlong to name a few, to resolve prevailing challenges in communities,” said MEC Mamabolo.
He said his department will continue to prioritise the provision of free basic services to the indigent population in the province, adding that the aim is to provide free basic services to at least 80% of registered households by March 2016.
He endorsed the “Back to Basics” campaign, which was launched by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan last year. The aim of the campaign is to fast-track service delivery and ensure that municipalities have their basics right.
“On an annual basis we thrive to improve basic service delivery and effect minimum standards in relation to water, sanitation, electricity and other basic services.”
He said the bucket system had been eradicated in Gauteng with the last of it destroyed and replaced in Ratanda last month.
Touching on the provinces’ state of readiness for the 2016 elections, the MEC announced that several programmes and initiatives are in place in preparation for the elections.
“These are centered on the key areas of improvement of the government’s response to citizens’ concerns and the transition towards the metropolitan system of governance for local government,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng Provincial Government has resolved to establish a single tier system of local government towards the realisation of a globally competitive Gauteng City-Region.
MEC Mamabolo reported that the department has made considerable progress towards this with the remaining two district municipalities on the way to becoming metropolitan municipalities.
“A metropolitan municipality has the necessary capacity and capability to provide services in a sustainable manner and this has been tested with the three metros in the province,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
