Fresh war on poverty

“It was four years ago when we adopted the aerotropolis programme as the city’s economic growth trajectory, informed by a glaring need to effect radical spatial, social and economic transformation in our regional economy,” said the Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mondli Gungubele, as he opened the aerotropolis conference in Ekurhuleni earlier this month.

“This is what we aim to achieve,” he said. “Our political and administrative leadership has acknowledged and recognised the importance of building a more equitable, inclusive and dynamic economy, as envisaged by our forebears.

“In September 2013, we announced the appointment of the Aurecon-led consortium that won the contract to develop a 30-year Ekurhuleni aerotropolis master plan. This took place over 18 months and included various experts gathered to guide and expose us to the potential. Likewise, we began the work of formulating a master plan that would guide our approach towards defining critical paths that would drive our economic growth, development, transformation and prosperity through the implementation of a systematic and progressive development approach.

 “We opted for a comprehensive approach that focused on in-depth research and analysis in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of our regional economy. Today, I can say without fear of contradiction, that we are unveiling to the world one of the most unprecedented, unparalleled and solid city development and investment attraction instruments. As we globetrot the world, we shall do so confident that we are carrying music for the ears of many investors.

“Through this master plan, we are making a bold commitment as a show of force and demonstration of our resolve to change the lives of communities. We are declaring a fresh war on poverty, joblessness, unemployment and the inequalities of the past.”

Value beam

The mayor said that when the present leadership took office in 2011, they did so on the back of priorities and commitments contained in the elections manifesto of the ruling African National Congress, which directed them to build local communities to create more employment and sustainable livelihoods; improve local public services and broaden access to them; build united, non-racial and integrated safer communities; promote community participation in local government and build a more effective, accountable and clean local government that works closely with provincial and national government.

“We are a city that has set itself a clear agenda, anchored on a three-dimensional value beam. The first dimension involves us maintaining the high standards of quality services enjoyed by all our well-off residents, while at the same time extending and improving services to those in less affluent communities.

“The second dimension of transformation is informed by the fact that we realise that everything we do must transform and develop our society to reach their full potential. The third dimension is our resolve that all of this is necessary because we must ultimately become the destination for investment, trade and tourism.”

Towards a united South Africa

Gungubele said central to the government’s agenda should be the successful advancement of the country away from its divided past, towards a united South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, black or white, in all their diversity.

But he told delegates that the reality is that in spite of the noble resolve towards nation-building and reconciliation, the majority of the country’s peace-loving community are having a difficult time ridding themselves of the shackles of apartheid.

“A quick glimpse at the City of Ekurhuleni tells you a story of a city with a relatively high unemployment rate – the majority of this being among young people,” said Gungubele. “Relative to former towns, township areas generally have higher numbers of the unemployed as well as people with no formal schooling.

“Almost a quarter of the population is employed in elementary occupations, such as domestic work, street trading and general work in the fields of agriculture, mining and construction.”

New wealth creation channels

According to Gungubele, it is an open secret that the City of Ekurhuleni as a microcosm of South Africa and Gauteng, experiences chronic levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality in comparison to other Gauteng metros. He said that these triple developmental challenges are the root cause of most of the socioeconomic ills that continue to ravage its communities.

“In this regard, we must continuously demonstrate our steadfast commitment to the vision of the Freedom Charter and the objectives behind the National Development Plan (NDP),” he said. “We must rally behind the NDP, to drive its implementation and to work with our government to eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and eliminate all inequality by 2030.

“As we committed during the State of the City Address earlier this year, any intervention that we make in this regard shall not realise the envisaged impact if they are not coupled with a systematic programme to crowd investment into strategic areas of the city and a concerted effort to create new wealth creation channels that emancipate our people from the shackles of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

“In the current term of office, we have had to manage a transition from a city that is fragmented, reactive, slow, complex, inequitable and risk averse to lay a foundation for a delivering city by the 2016 to 2021 political term. A city that will be cohesive, proactive, fast, modern, simple, equitable and risk-managed, with a special focus on investment.”

The mayor said that the aerotropolis master plan aims to drive sustainable socioeconomic development in partnership with other spheres of government, state-owned companies, privately owned businesses and social partners within Gauteng and South Africa. 

“Each project the document identifies has a significant role to play in driving reindustrialisation, while activating new industrial opportunities in ‘sunrise’ industries, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing.”

The mayor said he believes that there can be “no other catalyst to increase the volume of foreign direct investment into Ekurhuleni than the aerotropolis”. 

The cost of missed opportunities

He also said that the opportunity cost of not leveraging the potential of the aerotropolis could have far-reaching and unintended consequences because countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia have begun aggressive quests to reposition their airports as regional media hubs. “We must move at speed,” he said.

“It should always be borne in mind that the development of the aerotropolis is aimed at declaring a permanent urban edge to develop a compact city and introduce a new city design.

“The intention is to leverage corridors and road networks to enable mobility and densification whilst integrating the airport, open spaces, commercial districts and advanced manufacturing centres, retail centres, academic and research institutions and proximity of residential developments.

“The accelerated implementation of the aerotropolis master plan hinges on national policy shifts to address the slow pace of liberalisation, protection of national companies, high taxes and fees, safety concerns and restrictive local ownership rules.

“It is for these reasons that co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration should be the nucleus of relationships between the three spheres of government in order to advance the country’s national interest and global competitiveness imperatives.

“In as much as the Ekurhuleni aerotropolis programme aims to stimulate and drive efficiencies, it also serves as a catalyst to unlock massive blue collar job and venture creation opportunities and to drive the regeneration of township economies.

“The onus now rests on this municipality to project a resolve that indicates a commitment to mastermind conditions that make it easy for business to thrive in Ekurhuleni. In this regard, we undertake to ensure that we create conducive conditions for investors to do business in our area. All our structures will assume a central role in making the city even more investor friendly.”

The mayor appealed to investors and other critical role players delegates to consult the master plan to see how the aerotropolis will develop, and look for investment and strategic growth opportunities.