The launch of October Transport Month

2010 State of the City Address presented by the Honourable Executive Mayor, Cllr. Koketso Calvin Seerane of the Mogale City Local Municipality held at the Centenary Hall, Krugersdorp Civic Centre, Mogale City.

Madam Speaker: Councillor Noluthando Mangole;
Executive Mayor of the Westonaria Local Municipality: Cllr. Maserame Khumalo;
Executive Mayor of Merafong Local Municipality: Cllr. Papi Molokoane
Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature: Cde Uhuru Moiloa;
Chief Whip of Council: Councillor Sipho Dube;
Chief Whips of our sister municipalities
Speakers of our sister municipalities;
Members of the Mayoral Committee;
The Regional Chairperson of the ANC, Cde Mpho Nawa and the Regional Secretary, Cde Boyce Maneli;
Leaders of the Alliance;
Leaders of other political parties;
Honorable Councillors of Mogale City;
Municipal Manager of the Mogale City Local Municipality: Mr. Dan Mashitisho;
Other municipal managers here present;
Senior officials from government departments;
Veterans of Our Liberation Movement;
Provost Marshall General Reginald Rabotapi;
Area Commissioner of the SAPS, Tirani Maswanganyi;
Business and Religious leaders;
Senior management and staff of Mogale City Local Municipality;
Members of the media;
Distinguished guests, friends, and comrades;
People of Mogale City:

Before everything else, we want to commence by paying tribute to former Councillors Lashman Baloyi, Sam Oliphant, Gadifele Molefe and Crosby Dingezweni; our fallen comrades who left the spear for us to pick up and continue the great task of creating a better life for all our people. Madam Speaker, President Jacob Zuma recently declared in his State of the Nation Address that, “This year, 2010, shall be a year of action. The defining feature of this administration will be that it knows where people live, understands their needs, and responds faster. The government must work faster, harder and smarter. We will expect the executive and the public service to comply with this vision. We are building a performance-oriented state, by improving planning as well as performance monitoring and evaluation.” This call by President Zuma is to a large extent informed by the realization that after sixteen years of democracy and despite successive ANC electoral victories, the forces of reaction remain hell-bent on reversing our democratic gains and wrestling our victory through large-scale rubbishing and sabotage of our national transformation programme. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the ANC-led democratic state to reconfigure itself, arouse the masses to a partnership in action which enables a continual and qualitative response to the needs and aspirations of the people. Our municipality aligns itself to this call by the President because we know too well that the democracy we enjoy today was won not by the power of our words but essentially through the might of the united action of our people.

First and foremost, Madam Speaker, it should be understood that our account on the state of our city today is not to torment doomsayers, or an attempt to liquidate doubters. If we do so, we then confirm that common sense has been expelled and that we are so preoccupied with negativity to overhear its thoughts. On the contrary, today we report on our last year’s performance and table a programme of action for the year whose sole mission is to express our forward advance towards a better life for all communities in Mogale City. Just for some emphasis, Madam Speaker, when one by one the doubting Thomases join the ranks of the progressive forces because there is a little left to criticize, we will embrace them. In the end, a non-sexist, non-racist, prosperous and peaceful South Africa belongs to all of us and shall be built by all of us. This is all possible, Madam Speaker, as the grandson of apartheid’s chief architect Hendrik Verwoerd, Wilhelm, who joined the ANC- the pioneering movement of the people – wrote to a friend in 1986: “…there are so much reconciliation and healing work ahead, but what a wonderful challenge, not so? (Especially if we can work together, because of this I am surer than ever: that I want to work with you in a team, that I cannot and don’t want to work without you for a better future for our country, our children.” Nelson Mandela was to say about Wilhelm’s recollections that, “We can all be thankful that freedom has taken the danger out of political choice. But the building of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society has just begun. It will continue to confront each and every person with choices that will not always be easy. It is a protracted process which demands the active participation of every section of society.”

This is, therefore, the nub of our account to our city today. We call for a partnership in action to make this another successful year for the people of Mogale City. During the past year, the municipality has been involved in the revision and development of a number of policies that will guide and strengthen the economic and spatial development of the City. The revision of the Spatial Development Framework (SDF) is in its final stage of the approval process. The SDF is geared to assist in the realization of governmental policy objectives including poverty alleviation, rural development and general improvement in the people’s quality of life by promoting a spatially and economically integrated environment where development and investments are effectively guided and well managed to directly respond to the developmental challenges facing the City. Within the context of the existing SDF, the municipality is working closely with two mining houses that are actively involved in the rehabilitation of mine land which, once completed, will provide the City with developable land for residential, industrial and business purposes for a 20 year window period. The short-term benefit from this initiative is the development of the proposed Millsite Township that will yield 2850 residential units, 3,79 ha of business development, a primary school as well as a community facility. Madam Speaker, the CBD Urban Design Framework will be concluded during July 2010. This plan will pave the way for investment and revitalization of the Krugersdorp Inner City to ensure that the CBD remains a central hub which presents employment opportunities for the residents of Mogale City and beyond. Currently, a process is underway to review the Policies for Development Contribution and tariff determination for Engineering Services, which contains proposed amendments to the method that the municipality uses to determine the contribution to infrastructure development in the city.

The City is developing an Urban Revitalization Strategy for the Munsieville and Kagiso Areas to guide the capital investment of R 256.3 million from the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant received from the National Treasury. In addition, we are engaged with Old Mutual on the redevelopment and extension of Kagiso Mall to strengthen the economic development of the Kagiso area. Over the past twelve months, the municipality has considered and approved Development and planning applications for Business and Residential Developments to the extent of over 10ha, proving that the development and investment interest in the City is sound even in the midst of the worldwide economic challenges. Amongst the approved applications are a number of Bed & Breakfast and Hotel applications as well as a tented camp to house visitors to meet the needs of the Soccer World Cup 2010. Mogale City continues to be one of the only cities with the luxury of having the opportunity for development to the north, south, east and west, as well as the availability of centrally located land, contributing to the unique developmental dynamics of our City. In the Magaliesberg area, we are finalizing the approval of the Maloney’s Eye Development, a private initiative that will yield approximately 2230 dwelling units, 9 ha of business sites, 4 ha for a hotel, 20 ha for schools, 7 ha of industrial development and 3 ha for a community facility. This development, which is estimated at R800 million, will not only provide sustainable job opportunities but will also aid the provision of infrastructure to adjacent settlements and act as a catalyst for the development of Magaliesburg and surrounds whilst strengthening the Tourism Character of the area.

Whilst most citizens follow the legal route to obtain land use rights and submit building plans for approval, there are unfortunately those who decide to follow the illegal route and thereby undermine the resources of other citizens of the city. We have established a task team and dedicated additional personnel to it, not only to identify and address illegal land uses, but also to give spot fines to illegal builders and institute legal action against transgressors of the relevant Town Planning Schemes. The Municipality is making good progress with the establishment of a Land Management Entity that will be tasked with optimizing the management of Municipal Properties, rentals and lease agreements to ensure that the City derives the most income possible from its assets. It is foreseen that the establishment of the entity will be concluded by October this year. Madam Speaker, in line with our commitment to exploring innovative ways and partnerships to expand and diversify our economy, I am pleased to announce that we are busy finalizing a process to establish a solar energy project valued at R600 million. The project will contribute immensely to the nationwide drive to find alternative sources of energy, job creation, and serve as our own contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions. We are also in discussions with Sunvalley Foods to establish an organic food production project across Mogale City, which will provide opportunities for our local co-operatives to actively participate in the agricultural sector.

Madam Speaker, enterprise development remains a key priority of the municipality so as to ensure that the majority of our people participate in the mainstream of our economy. In effecting this, the municipality is continuing with its participation in the Plato Mentorship Project and intends to enroll approximately 20 SMME’s when the programme reopens in April 2010. Interested SMME’s who would like to participate in the project should contact our Enterprise Development unit for more details. Madam Speaker we have assisted with the formalization of 215 small businesses and the registration of 51 cooperatives. A total of 90 SMMEs attended different training sessions in the areas of marketing, costing and computer skills. To raise awareness and provide further business training sessions, the municipality organized and conducted an economic opportunities’ roadshow in December 2009 at which 80 SMME’s participated and had an opportunity to interact with 17 Government departments and other relevant institutions that took part. We have started with the construction of hawker trading platforms in Kagiso and Munsieville and construction will be finalized soon.

Currently, twenty-one (21) young people from rural areas are being trained on a venture creation programme. The training will take place over a period of 12 months and it encompasses business management, marketing management and the production of chemical cleaning material. The training is funded and accredited by the Chemical and Industry Seta and it is at NQF level 4. At the end of the training, the young trainees will form a cooperative that will supply cleaning material products to the local and broader markets. We are still in the process of finalizing the local economic development strategy that will guide the future growth of the municipality. We also have close interaction with the business community through the Economic Advisory Council, a forum that engages constantly on the challenges experienced by business and also in finding possible solutions to grow and sustain the economy of the city. In growing our local tourism offering we have, in partnership with Gauteng Tourism Authority, assisted 4 Bed and Breakfast establishments from our townships to receive star grading status. We continue to engage and support all tourism associations in Mogale City. Our collective efforts make us to remain the leading player in the tourism sector and at the West Rand tourism awards ceremony hosted in September 2009 at Silver Star Casino, Mogale City tourism products dominated the awards in all the categories which included accommodation, tour guides and Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Events (MICE).

Madam Speaker, infrastructure development retains center stage to ensure that this important pillar and backbone of our economy remains responsive to achieving economic growth that creates decent work opportunities, sustainable livelihoods and meets the basic needs of our people. During the course of this financial year, we have developed an integrated infrastructure management plan and infrastructure maintenance management practice guidelines so as to ensure that the infrastructure network has sufficient capacity to provide these services in a consistent and reliable manner. These plans guide the development and maintenance of our electricity, water reticulation, wastewater treatment, roads, and stormwater as well as our buildings infrastructure. As part of this programme, we have initiated an electricity network upgrade programme to ensure continued and improved supply capacity to our domestic and commercial users which amongst others include:

• Increasing the capacity of Condale and Azaadville Substations by 80 and 5 MVA respectively. The upgrading of these substations will commence in the 2010/2011 financial year at a cost of approximately R137,5 million over the next 3 (three) years.
• Implementation of collective funding agreements to provide electricity to private developments amounting to R73 million rands. Batavia and Ruimsig substations are amongst those funded through these agreements.
• The upgrading of Munsieville power supply at a cost of R5 million
• Installation of high mast lights in informal settlements including rural areas to the tune of R1, 8 million

Madam Speaker, we appreciate the contribution of the Mogale City business community to the socio-economic development of the city. We may recall that Silverstar Casino contributed R450 000 towards the baby Thandile Madikane Trust last year. It is our pleasure to report that the baby had a successful liver transplant operation and is on her way to full recovery. This year again, Silverstar Casino has made a valuable contribution of over R3 million towards the provision of street lighting on Hendrik Potgieter, Furrow and Fals Roads in the Muldersdrift area. This is, therefore, the essence of our call when we say working together we can do more to speed up service delivery to our people. We continue to implement our pro-active scheduled electricity network maintenance programme and so far R16 million has already been expended for this purpose. In addition, we have recruited an additional 10 electricians to strengthen our maintenance capacity. Our new approach on street light maintenance is starting to bear fruit and to date, we have managed to repair 5 000 streetlights across the city at a cost of R 6 million. We are gearing up efforts to ensure that our streetlight network of 40 000 across the city is reasonably functional despite the ongoing theft and vandalism of the infrastructure.

We are making a humble plea to our communities to assist us in dealing with the vandalism of our infrastructure. Vandalism is an act of criminality and is taking us back. The limited resources that we have could be put to better use in the absence of vandalism. Madam Speaker, overall there has been significant progress in the management of our Water and Sanitation Sector. The mechanical and electrical refurbishment of the Percy Stewart plant concluded in August 2009 at a cost of R 22 million resulted in improving its legal compliance from 20% to 70%. It is pleasing to report that the average performance of our three water treatment plant operations has improved to 60% towards meeting full compliance with the National Water Act. As you are aware, operational requirements of these treatment plants have to be in line with the National Water Act which stipulates that the effluent discharged into the river systems from these plants should be of a prescribed quality and should not harm the environment of the river systems.

To further improve the compliance and capacity requirements of our water treatment plants, we will embark on the following programmes:

• Upgrading of the Percy Stewart Waste Water Treatment plant by additional 10 megalitres per day at a cost of R100 million. This project will start in May 2010 and be completed in September 2011.
• Effecting the necessary repairs on the Flip Human Waste Water Treatment plant at a cost of R5 million with construction work starting in April 2010 and to be completed by the end of the 2009/10 financial year.
• The extension of the Magaliesberg Treatment Works to increase its capacity by 5 megalitres per day at a cost of R50 million.  On completion of this project some areas in the rural nodes of Magaliesberg and Hekpoort would have access to waterborne sanitation during the 2012/2013 financial year. At the moment we continue to provide sanitation services to some of these communities through the use of chemical toilets.

The conclusion of the upgrading programme would ensure that these three treatment plants are fully compliant with the requirements of the National Water Act by September 2011. It is with delight that we inform you today that the construction of the Rangeview bulk water pipeline is at an advanced stage and will be completed in June 2010 at a cost of R5 million. It will improve the water pressure and capacity in the areas of Featherbrooke, Pinehaven, Ruimsig, Silverstar Casino and Diswilmar. Madam Speaker, it has been a daunting task to provide water to our rural communities over the previous years by way of water tankers at a yearly cost of R5 million. In our quest to improve the quality of life of the communities of Hekpoort, Lindley, Tarlton, Rietfontein, Magaliesburg and Protea Ridge, I am pleased to report that the construction of the 27 km water pipeline was completed in February this year to which we plan to connect standpipes for approximately 16 000 rural households by the end of this financial year. Madam Speaker, we are aware that many localities experience challenges with regards to the quality of drinking water. I am confident to state that the quality of our drinking water cannot be doubted. All our water sources are tested on a weekly basis and the results consistently show that we meet the acceptable national standards.

As part of our water demand management programme, we have since 2005 to date installed 9500 prepaid water meters across Mogale City. This project is ongoing and additional prepaid meters will be procured with the recently acquired MIG grant of R 2 million. Madam Speaker, we are conscious of the scarcity of the water resource, and the need to ensure that this resource is used wisely. As part of our programme to reduce unaccounted for water, we have in addition to our ongoing maintenance programme, resealed the Munsieville Reservoir at a cost of R500 000, and also replaced the main water pipeline in Jacob Street in Chamdor at a cost of R1,8 million. On 19 March 2010, the Municipality hosted the Deputy Minister of Water Affairs, Mme Rejoice Mabhudafhasi on the War on Water Leaks campaign. During this campaign, the Deputy Minister showed her appreciation to this cause and donated R 2million to support our ongoing efforts in saving water. We, therefore, urge community members to use our water wisely and bring to our attention any water leaks that they come across in the city.

Our Roads and Surface Drainage networks are central to ensuring that both economic and social activities within the City are able to continue smoothly and efficiently. It is in that regard that attention is paid to the management of this infrastructure. Our total road network infrastructure is 1,200 km in extent, of which 1,000 km is paved road and 200 km unpaved. The 200 km of unpaved roads comprise 150 km that is in the rural areas and 50 km in the townships. Madam Speaker, we are committed to eradicating unpaved roads or gravel roads in Mogale City by 2014. Already we have secured R180 million of MIG Funding for the eradication of gravel roads in the rural areas and initial construction phases will commence in January 2011. With regards to the eradication of gravel roads in the townships, we have already completed the construction of 2 km of paved road in Rietvallei Extension 2 at a cost of R7 million and as of January this year, we have continued with the construction of an additional 2 km. The completion of this project in December 2012, would mean that the entire Rietvallei road network will be paved. Furthermore, the construction of connecting roads at both Ethembalethu and Rietfontein township developments will commence in July 2010. On the maintenance of our existing roads infrastructure, we have managed to resurface 4 km of road in Kagiso Extension 6 and 4 km in the CBD along Paardekraal Road at a total cost of R8 million. Pothole repairs are an ongoing important activity of the municipality. We are aware of the challenges around this particular function and have therefore decided to employ community-based approaches to raise our game in overcoming this challenge. These approaches include the engagement of local cooperatives. Furthermore, we continue to entertain numerous requests for speed calming measures in various parts of the city.

To ensure that our buildings are properly refurbished, repaired and adequately maintained, we have secured services of contractors in the areas of building work, electrical maintenance, plumbing, painting, and waterproofing at a cost of R60 million over the next three years. During the budget speech last year, I announced our resolve to promote Mogale City-based business enterprises through the procurement of their goods and services. During the past 12 months, the municipality has over and above the run of the mill procurement processes, awarded a total number of 49 tenders and 50% of these were awarded to local Mogale City-based companies, with a total value of more than R 70 million. It should be noted, that in many instances, the nature of the work required is so specialized that no Mogale City-based companies tender, and in these instances, external service providers have to be appointed. For all these service providers appointed from outside our municipal area, a 1% Corporate Social Responsibility levy is deducted from all the payments made to them in terms of the total contract value. This is one of the methods through which companies plow back to Mogale City. On a monthly basis, it is becoming evident that more and more tenders are being awarded to Mogale City-based companies, as our local service providers are becoming more competitive in their pricing and tender submissions. We are continuously updating our database of suppliers to ensure that many local enterprises participate in our procurement processes.

We remain committed to this cause and will endeavor to improve our performance in local economic empowerment efforts in the years ahead. Madam Speaker, our tireless efforts in this regard do not go unrecognized. At the provincial level, Mogale City is one of only two municipalities that adhere to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant procedures and reporting requirements. Nationally, Mogale City is a participant in the Expanded Public Works Programme, where we engage in labor-intensive construction methods through which we create a number of job opportunities on the MIG and other capital infrastructure projects. For the 2009/10 financial year, Mogale City is leading in the category of local municipalities in terms of participation and reporting on this Presidential initiative. We are therefore well on track to receive an incentive that will further boost our performance in job creation initiatives. We have also concluded a policy that will guide us in mainstreaming Expanded Public Works Programme implementation in our projects. The municipality has adopted a multi-pronged approach to take its rural development priorities to new heights. The approach seeks to afford all key roleplayers an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the rural communities. It entails:

• An integrated approach to rural development, through which all departments should include rural development interventions in their plans and reports. They must also participate actively in the re-established integrated rural development task team that is looking into matters of evictions, natural disaster and any other matters of emergencies.
• The implementation of the emergency site and service approach on municipal-owned land in all the rural nodes to urgently address the pressing needs of the rural communities including their security of tenure, relocation from unsafe living conditions and access to basic services.
• The development of precinct plans in all the rural nodes to create an enabling environment for socio-economic development wherein growth can be realized and opportunities can be created. This will also enable other interested key players to make a contribution to this important priority of the government
• The collaborative development of high potential agricultural potential with relevant stakeholders as envisaged in the Gauteng Agricultural Development Strategy to ensure optimal utilisation of our rich resources to contribute to adequate food production for the province and the country in general. To support agri-business development initiatives in the city, the municipality is in the process of developing business plans for commonages to ensure their maximum contribution to this course.
• Putting other land portions owned by the municipality which are not earmarked for integrated rural settlement establishment into good use through our existing policies to stimulate economic growth and job creation in the rural areas.
• Strategic acquisition of additional land to address additional socio-development needs of the peri-urban and rural areas
• Promote and encourage other land uses that contribute to the stimulation of the rural economy in line with our spatial development planning imperatives

The municipality remains committed to the maintenance of a healthy environment for its people and to this end, a number of environmental management policy instruments were developed and approved including the Environmental Audit Compliance Strategy and Environmental Guidelines on Rezoning. A process is underway to revise the Environmental Management Framework of the city. Recently, the municipality developed a City Aesthetics Plan to guide the beautification and greening of the city. Projects being implemented according to this plan include the development of the Kagiso Regional and Azaadville Parks, the beautification of Paardekraal Avenue and other main arterial routes across the city including rural centers to enhance the appearance of the city especially for our visitors during the 2010 Soccer World Cup and beyond. Madam Speaker, the municipality continues to receive recognition for its good environmental management performance. We received a Gold Award at the 2009 Garden World Spring Festival for best garden design. We also continue to show consistent performance in the Provincial Bontle Ke Botho Campaign. Two of our wards namely, ward 13 and 18 each won R50 000. Three schools, namely Thutuzekani Primary, Dr. Yusuf Dadoo Primary, and Swartkop Primary schools also won prizes that they will use to beautify their school gardens. We wish to congratulate all the winners and in particular, Councillor Nobesutho Ngubane and her ward for having won this prize in two consecutive years.

The municipality aims to improve on its waste removal services function and is exploring various ways of providing this service efficiently. We have commenced with Phase 3 of the upgrading of Luipaardsvlei Landfill site at a cost of R22 million over three years. It is worth noting that a local contractor, King Civils, was appointed for this project. Currently, a citywide clean-up campaign funded by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure is underway in several wards of the municipality. This Community Works Programme has created more than 2000 jobs and is effective in clearing refuse in most of the hotspots in Kagiso and Munsieville. Going forward, initiatives to be implemented include the establishment of waste transfer stations in strategic locations across the city and piloting of rural waste management at a cost of R875 000. The cemetery upgrade programme is well on course. This year we will finalise the upgrade of the rural cemeteries through which all will have functional ablution facilities and caretaker houses. The upgrade and expansion of the Kagiso cemetery are on course and the construction of a new ablution and office building will commence in May this year.

We remain committed to contributing towards household food security and we pride ourselves in the support to local communities through our food garden programme. To date, we have distributed vegetable seeds and seedlings to community food gardens which feed a number of households. The Municipality is closely liaising with the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure the expansion of this programme to reach most of our needy and deserving households. A number of activities were undertaken under our social upliftment programme. To date we provided support and assistance to groups and individuals to the tune of R290 000 out of the Grant-in-Aid allocation of R576 000 and the remainder of this will be spent by the end of June 2010. We established a Victim Support Group in Magaliesburg where 33 women were trained on gender-based violence. A total of 108 Elderly persons participated in a yearlong literacy programme (Khari Gude) that we facilitated in collaboration with the Department of Education.

To improve our performance on issues related to designated persons that include the disabled, youth, women and the elderly, we are developing an integrated plan to scale up our interventions which will guide our approach and interaction with relevant stakeholders. We will endeavor to implement youth development programmes in conjunction with other stakeholders to improve their access to funding, employment creation, and skills development opportunities. We are engaged with the Military Police branch of the SANDF in a youth development project that seeks to recruit youth to undergo training after which they will have necessary skills for them to be absorbed in the military police branch or other relevant sectors. This project will go alongside other youth development initiatives which include Career Exhibitions, Young Entrepreneurs Networking Session and so forth. Madam Speaker, the provision and maintenance of community facilities is of utmost importance to us. To date, we have concluded Phase I of the construction of the Kagiso and Munsieville Multi-Purpose Centres as planned and Phase 2 of both projects will be implemented from April 2010. I am pleased to announce that the Kagiso Swimming Pool was re-opened on 26 March 2010 after it was refurbished at a cost of R425 000. We also aim to refurbish other swimming pools across the city in the near future.

During the past year, 645 816 people accessed Primary Health Care services through our clinics and the coverage of the Expanded Immunization Programme reached 89%. We also conducted an emergency campaign to combat the outbreak of measles through which we managed to immunize over 100 000 children. We received a commendation from the Gauteng Department of Health’s West Rand Region for helping them communicate effectively about the measles outbreak. In addition to extending operating hours at our clinics, we are striving to achieve the district-wide benchmark of one-and-half hours waiting time for our clients. In dealing with the HIV/Aids pandemic, our 126 volunteers managed to reach 139 844 people through the HIV and AIDS ward-based door-to-door programme. To this end, 8210 people consented to be tested and of those 2269 tested positive. The implementation of the dual therapy programme at the primary health care facilities resulted in the increase in the number of babies born HIV negative from HIV positive mothers. On early childhood development, the municipality has established two Drop-in Centres for children with disabilities in Lusaka and Kagiso Extension 12 and 22 children are benefitting from this initiative. Our partnership with the Department of Health and Social Development managed to link 45 Early Childhood Development centers to the nutrition programme. We also provided supplementary feeding to 27 576 children under the age of five across the city.

Madam Speaker, as you are aware, our people are confronted with the challenge of access to housing. To address this we are working closely with the Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing to progressively and significantly reduce this housing backlog. The housing development approach comprises the rural housing, eradication of Informal Settlements and mixed housing development. In promoting rural housing development, we are assisting qualifying households to register on the Provincial Demand Data Base so that they can access housing subsidies. We have initiated rural settlement establishment planning processes on municipal-owned land portions in Hekpoort and Tarlton, Magaliesberg and Nooitgedacht. Last year, we concluded an informal settlement survey in urban and rural areas of Mogale City. The survey established the current housing and related infrastructure backlogs that will inform the development and implementation of the integrated human settlement master plan. We also managed to complete 2895 housing units in the different extensions of Rietvallei. In Chief Mogale development, we have completed Phase 1 of the civil works programme by installing water, sewer, and stormwater reticulation networks as well as the tarring of internal roads. Installation of electricity reticulation network has just commenced and the appointment of the contractor to build 750 houses will be concluded soon. We also managed to complete the 66 housing units at Ga-Mohale in Magaliesburg.

Going forward, we plan to implement the housing projects in the Horseshoe area and Munsieville Extension 5 which will yield 400 new top structures. We will also continue with the construction of the remainder of the 203 housing units in Rietfontein Village and installation of infrastructure and construction of houses at Ethembalethu village. Hostel redevelopment continues to form part and parcel of improving the living conditions of our communities. We will be conducting feasibility studies in both Kagiso Green and Boiketlo Hostels to convert them into family units. The acquisition of Lanwen Hostel is in the final stages and will be concluded once the infrastructure related challenges have been addressed. The safety of our people, assets, and visitors to our city remains a high priority of the municipality. To date, we have achieved our goal of registering 100 % of our traffic officers. We also employed an additional 12 traffic officers. Our Public Safety unit managed to conduct 969 roadblocks across the city and these efforts resulted in a record reduction of road accidents in our city especially during the festive period. Furthermore, the unit embarked on a Community Outreach and Road Safety Awareness programme aimed at improving the safety of our motorists and pedestrians.

To improve our effectiveness on by-law enforcement, we are constantly engaged with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that our vision of establishing a municipal court becomes a reality. Currently, we are busy procuring firearms at a cost of R500 000 so as to improve the safety of our officers. Our newly acquired fleet of public safety vehicles will soon hit the streets to increase our visibility and presence, particularly to provide an exceptional service to the 2010 Soccer World Cup visitors who will be descending on our shores. Plans are underway to improve the current security of our assets through the installation of an electronic security system in municipal buildings and the introduction of a management system for land invasions, and prevention of infrastructure vandalism and theft. Madam Speaker, the municipality’s motor vehicle and driver licensing services continue to conform to the Department of Transport regulatory requirements. The municipality has been subjected to regular audits by the Department of Transport and was found to be compliant and competent in delivering the motor vehicle and driver licensing services. Enhanced service delivery through the extension of a motor vehicle and driver licensing and registration services to alternate Saturdays have brought great relief to our residents. Through this, we managed to substantially increase numbers in processing vehicle registrations and license renewals as well as driver’s and learner’s applications. We are indeed humbled by the community’s appreciation of our improved performance in this regard.

The establishment of a driver licensing and testing center at the Old Kagiso Police Station is on course. Necessary processes have been concluded within the municipality and we are finalising the agreements with the Provincial Department of Transport for the project to commence. For easy payment of traffic fines, we have increased the number of channels through partnerships with Standard Bank, Pay fines, FNB and counter payments and a contract is being finalized with SA Post Office. We have concluded the review of our five year strategic and integrated development plans to include the crucial elements of the local government turnaround strategy that is relevant to our municipality. Madam Speaker, the municipality is actively involved at various levels in issues relating to municipal service delivery transformation. At the regional level, we participate in various forums including the West Rand Mayors’ IGR forum and the Vision 2014 process on the establishment of West Rand Unicity. Our Municipal Manager, Mr. Dan Mashitisho, has been appointed by the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs as the chairperson of Merafong Ministerial Transitional Committee for the stabilisation of Khutsong. In the context of intergovernmental relations framework, the Municipal Manager is the representative of all Gauteng municipalities in the Gauteng Global City Region Observatory Board. At the National level, Executive Manager, Corporate Support Services, Mr. Moroashike Mokoena, is part of the Ministerial Task Team that is busy assisting struggling municipalities across the country.

Madam Speaker, we will continue our efforts to deepen democracy in the city through active engagement of our various stakeholders in the affairs of the municipality. In doing so, we are mindful of the capacity requirements of our councilors and Community Liaison Officers in policies and legislation related to local government service delivery. To this end, they are undergoing a number of developmental programmes that would enable them to fulfil the Batho Pele principles in their engagement with our community. We recognise the important role played by the ward committees in entrenching public participation. Currently, 60 % of our ward committees are functional and we aim to introduce measures to improve on their effectiveness including the provision of R1.2 million budget allocation for stipends.

During this financial year, we have established a fully functional Petitions Committee. The committee is actively involved in resolving the numerous issues that are being brought to its attention. The Municipal Public Accounts Committee has been revived and is currently busy carrying out its mandate. The finance and performance audit committees continue to exercise their oversight functions on our financial management and service delivery performance. We continue to meet our compliance with the requirements of Promotion of Access to Information Act and we are consistent in the submission of the required quarterly reports to the Human Rights Commission. The policy on the Renaming/Naming of the streets and places has been approved. The Geographical names Change Committee will now start to consider the applications received on the naming and renaming of streets and places in the city. To be more effective, the committee is to engage in a vigorous education and awareness drive to familiarize the Mogale City community to this process.

We are continuing with our efforts to strengthen the capacity of the institution to respond to the service delivery challenges we are faced with. The organisational performance management system policy, which covers both institutional and individual performance management will be finalized in June 2010 and its implementation will start in the 2010/2011 financial year. We also continue to take advantage of learning opportunities of the twinning agreements entered into with other municipalities through collaborative programmes and projects. The implementation of other service delivery enhancing mechanisms is in full swing. To date, we have initiated projects around the improvement of our ICT network and systems infrastructure, website upgrading, and call center efficiency and effectiveness. On human resources development, the implementation of the integrated human resources management strategy is on course. Twelve (12) life skills programmes and 12 financial management sessions were conducted with the primary aim of assisting employees as part of the Employee Assistance Programme tailored to improve the morale, social and financial management behavior of individual staff members. A total of 172 employees were trained on critically important learning programmes during the year under review.

Madam Speaker, the municipality has also awarded bursaries to 66 municipal employees to further develop themselves at institutions of higher learning. Currently we have 23 municipal employees participating in the Local Government Accounting Certificate Programme (AAT) as a result of the partnership we enjoy between ourselves, the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority, the National Treasury, The South African Institute of Civil Engineers, the South African Council for the Property Valuers Profession and the Association of Accounting Technicians. Madam Speaker, allow me to highlight one of the key achievement that resulted from our partnership with other external stakeholders. On the 18th March 2010, twelve (12) learners from the Financial Services Department graduated from the AAT Programme.

As part of the broad strategy to develop skills and raise competency levels of unemployed youth and graduates within the City, twenty (20) unemployed trainees were enlisted in the Library Practices Skills Programme and a further twenty-five (25) was hosted on other practical training programmes. In addition, a total of 103 graduates were placed in different departments as interns to further promote employability through skills development. This year, the Special Mayoral Bursary Fund assisted 100 matriculants to further their studies at institutions of higher learning. Madam Speaker, it is an honour to proudly announce that the biggest and most significant achievement of the municipality is the attainment of an unqualified audit opinion from the Office of the Auditor-General on the annual financial statements for the year ending June 2009. This hard earned success is a quantum leap from a history of financial disclaimers in the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 financial years, two qualified audit opinions between 2005/2006 and 2007/2008 financial years. Judging from this history, we should all take pride in the indelible mark we have made as a municipality through our determination to improve our governance systems. This is an achievement we will jealously guard and continue to improve upon. It should be noted that only 3% of the South African municipalities were able to achieve this in 2008/2009.

We continue to provide the safety net for our vulnerable community members through the implementation of our indigent management policy. In this financial year alone, we approved 4118 indigent households and an amount of R118 810 275 of their debt has been written off as compared to the R19 866 864 debt write off in the 2008/2009 financial year. The review of the current indigent management policy is underway. We are also concluding the appointment of a service provider to assist in fast tracking registration of indigent households. We urge deserving households to come forward and register so as to access this programme.

Furthermore, we have introduced measures to assist consumers to service their outstanding debt to the municipality. These include:

• the recently approved policy through which consumers contribute 30% of their prepaid purchases towards their arrears on their accounts.
• an incentive scheme through which those domestic consumers who are indebted to MLCM for more than one year and settle their account in a lump sum including Rate Clearance Certificates will be entitled to interest write-off charges for the preceding 12 months and those consumers who makes arrangements to pay off a debt to MCLM of more than 12 months will be entitled to interest free charges provided they pay their current account and honour their arrangement.

The municipality will be embarking on a mass communication campaign to raise awareness on these and other related policy matters.

As part of our Revenue Enhancement Strategy as well as ongoing efforts to improve our customer service, the revamping and refurbishment of the Revenue Section has started and will be completed in June 2010. We are proud to announce that there are further improvements in our financial management capability in that we managed to spend 92.17 % and 64% of the approved operational and the capital budget respectively in the last financial year. It is also worth noting that the municipality did not incur any Unauthorized Expenditure, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure or any Irregular Expenditure as per the requirements of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) (No. 56 of 2003). We have, amidst challenges, managed to successfully implement the Municipal Property Rates Act at the beginning of July 2009. During the process, we received 1 549 objections of which a majority has been resolved and the remaining 91 will be concluded soon through the Valuation Appeal Board. Madam Speaker, we wish to dedicate the latter part of our programme to the ominous international project, the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup. We are 71 Days away from the biggest sporting tournament in the world. Many of our people in the city rightly ask the question, how can I benefit from the tournament? In the five years since South Africa was awarded hosting rights of the FIFA World Cup, a range of opportunities have laid themselves across many of our country’s daring entrepreneurs. Many of these opportunities have been at the initiative of government whilst the majority came as a result of the innovativeness of individuals and enterprises. This is the standard characteristic of opportunities; they are either presented to you or are created by you. But the defining factor where opportunities are concerned is whether you grab them or not.

Even though we are not a host city of any 2010 Soccer Games, we are proud to announce that Portugal and Australia have chosen Mogale City as their base camp. We appeal to all to make memorable their stay in the City of Human Origin, a home away from home.

In our drive to make World Cup opportunities available to our local businesses and people, we undertake to:

• Create the hype in the whole of Mogale City around the World Cup and it involves stepped up use of print and electronic media, including a 50 Days Countdown programme which will have a number of activities. Part of the activities that we will be engaged in include the Mayor’s Cup and Patrick Ace Ntsoelengoe games that will serve as a build up to this big event.
• Jointly with the national teams of Portugal and Australia run a series of sports development sessions including coaching clinics.
• Recruit and engage fifty volunteers from all wards to assist our tourists and visitors with information.
• Promote cultural tourism offering of Mogale City, wherein some of the festivities and celebrations during the World Cup will be taken to Kagiso and Munsieville in order to give our tourists a taste of the day and night life in these communities;
• Upgrade the infrastructure and undertake other maintenance activities around team base camps and training venues. These upgrades must be completed by 15 May 2010 to allow testing and final inspections;
• Establish Public Viewing Areas around the CBD and in one of the rural nodes. In the rollout of the PVA’s, service providers from Mogale City will be prioritised based on capacity and expertise required. This will take into account SMME’s and the procurement process has already begun and a service provider/s must be appointed by the end of March 2010;

Lastly, we continue on a path of recognising a cadre described by the late Joe Slovo as ‘one among the giants of our national and working class movement.’ This year our celebration of Dr Yusuf Dadoo’s life will be bigger and better than the launch events we held last year. This man credited for saving the South African Communist Party from complete oblivion will be remembered through various activities which include the unveiling of his statue and a memorial lecture. Madam Speaker, we want to reiterate our unequivocal position to further advance our national transformation agenda. We shall not be derailed, neither shall anyone defeat our resolve to make our city the finest and most accomplished amongst the nation and the world cities. We invite our people to join us in a conspiracy for progress, based on trust, honesty and hard work.

I thank you.