Gauteng has got off to a strong start this year, despite the electricity problems it has experienced, says Premier Mbhazima Shilowa.
Gauteng provincial government is to establish a 150-seat call centre in Mogale City that will make it easier for the public to get information and book services available in the province.
This was announced by Premier Mbhazima Shilowa in his State of the Province address at the opening of the provincial legislature on Monday, 18 February. It would expand the existing Gauteng call centre, using the existing 0860-Gauteng number.
The number already provides services such as the booking of driving licences; the booking of metered taxis; public transport information; accessing Bana Pele, or community, services; information on small, medium and micro enterprise support; the housing hotline on the housing waiting list; the police complaints line; and job applications by SMS.
According to Shilowa, the existing Gauteng call centre handled some 450 000 calls every month.
The ceremony was beamed live from three sites in Gauteng. Shilowa outlined the province’s key priorities and programmes for the year.
Uplift the poor
He pledged that his government would uplift poor households. “The goal is that every poor household in Gauteng should have access to services such as free basic water and electricity; rates rebates; social grants; free healthcare; free education; indigent burials; free scholar transport; home-based care for those affected by and infected with HIV and Aids; food for poor children and families in distress; and services for the elderly. Issues such as access to Expanded Public Works Programme jobs, skills development and other economic opportunities will also be addressed.”
A critical first step, said the premier, was the development of an integrated database of needs. “We have conducted a pilot project to match the indigent register databases of Emfuleni, Mogale City and Nokeng Tsa Taemane with the social grant database. The pilot will be extended to all municipalities by the end of June 2008.”
Specifically referring to the current electricity crisis, Shilowa said the general despondency in the country due to uncertainty within the economy, could be eradicated if all citizens worked together.
Gauteng would remain on course to meet its goal of growing the economy by 8 percent by 2014.
Quoting Allan Knott-Craig, the managing director of wireless connectivity company iBurst, Shilowa said the year started “with a bang! The future was rosy on 31 December 2007, but suddenly everyone is buying candles and researching property in Perth!
“A combination of recession in the USA, global equity market negativity, high interest rates, the National Credit Act and power outages have combined to create the perfect storm.”
Don’t panic
However, Shilowa urged citizens not to panic. “I think 2008 will be a tough year. But I also see it as a great opportunity to seize the day while everyone else is whingeing and get a front seat on the inevitable boom that we’ll experience in 2009, 2010 and beyond.”
But every Gauteng citizen must contribute in trying to redress the economic and social bleakness. Shilowa urged all residents – families, organisations, communities, business – to take measures to save electricity, promote energy efficiency and increase the electricity supply.
The province, working together with municipalities, had taken one step further to ensure that electricity blackouts were curbed. Shilowa said the first step was to reduce electricity consumption by at least 10 percent.
“All provincial government offices which have not already done so will change to energy efficient globes and switch off lights and appliances at night and when not in use … Within the provincial government we have launched a campaign to raise awareness among all staff on saving electricity at work and at home.”
In addition, municipalities would install geyser ripple control switches in households and would supply geyser blankets. Light emitting diodes would be installed in traffic lights to minimise traffic disruptions in the event of blackouts and load shedding schedules would be agreed between municipalities and Eskom, the national power supplier.
To increase energy supply and improve energy efficiency in the long term, the province would look into generating its own electricity in government buildings, particularly in hospitals and other key sites.
Unemployment down
To illustrate Gauteng’s strength to recover from the current crisis, Shilowa said the province’s unemployment rate had shrunk from 30,8 percent in 2003 to 22,6 percent last year, according to a 2007 Community Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa.
The labour absorption rate also improved from 47,3 percent to 52,1 percent in the same period.
“Our economy continues to create new jobs. In just one year, between March 2006 and March 2007, an additional 146 000 new jobs were created in Gauteng, according to Stats SA. This brought the total jobs at March 2007 to 3,4 million.”
Residents’ quality of life was also improving. Shilowa noted that the percentage of informal settlements dropped to 22,6 percent; the percent of households using electricity remained the highest in the country at 83,5 percent; and the percentage of households with piped water was 97,9 percent.
The electricity crisis had not dented investors’ confidence. Car manufacturer Ford Motor Company, for example, recently announced a R1,5-billon investment in the country, part of which would go towards the expansion of the production capacity at its motor assembly plant in Tshwane.
Within the next five years, the G-link initiative to provide affordable broadband access to 95 percent of Gauteng’s people would be implemented.
“This will add significantly to the province’s [gross domestic product] and job creation efforts by 2014,” Shilowa said.
Gautrain
Turning to the rapid-rail link, the Gautrain, Shilowa said immense progress had been made since construction began. The project was helping to stimulate the province’s economy, promote empowerment and develop small business.
“Gautrain’s contribution to black empowerment amounted to a total of R590-million in the current financial year, while small, medium and micro enterprises received a total of R70-million for services provided to the project. In 2008-09 the project will contribute R710-million to black empowerment, and R70-million to SMME development.”
It was estimated that in 2007-08, the project created more than 29 400 direct, indirect and induced jobs; this figure was expected increase to about 33 000 in 2008-09.
Skills levels among municipal personnel played a big role in delivery improved services at local government level. And the Gauteng City Region Academy aimed at driving the development of the necessary skills for economic growth and social transformation would be launched this year.
This academy would focus on research and development and innovation capacity as well as providing skills to public service employees.
Social needs
The pursuance of sound economic growth would have to parallel the pursuit of sustainable social development to address the social needs of all the province’s citizens, Shilowa said. Many people living in informal settlements were beginning to enjoy the taste of a better life as a result of the province’s programmes to eradicate these settlements.
“The people who previously lived without basic services in Zevenfontein and Riverbend informal settlements now have roads, water, electricity and proper toilets in Cosmo City, where they were moved.”
Gauteng aimed to formalise 122 informal settlements by 2009; 66 of these settlements had been formalised already, and the province planned to formalise the balance in 2008-09. A total of 41 informal settlements had been eradicated.
The province planned to deliver 58 552 houses during the 2007-08 financial year. A number of mixed housing developments were planned or were under way, including Cosmo City, Doornkop, Westonaria South and Chief Luthuli in Ekurhuleni, Shilowa said.
He also announced that an integrated database of people who had applied for houses had been finalised and the housing waiting list would be published before the end of March.
Share expertise
To strengthen service delivery, improve capacity and share expertise between municipalities, Shilowa announced that Gauteng mayors had agreed to pair metros with district municipalities. Johannesburg would be paired with the West Rand, Tshwane with Metsweding and Ekurhuleni with Sedibeng.
The province started the 2007-08 financial year with a strong push against lawlessness and crime. Communities were mobilised behind the Take Charge Campaign, which was implemented as part of the Gauteng Safety Strategy. A new, world-class 10111 centre was also established.
A number of measures aimed at social crime prevention had also been identified, including closer co-operation between government officials in community safety, health, social development and housing sectors.