Building a social contract

Notwithstanding delays and dissention between political parties on the day, an important milestone for the fourth administration for Ekurhuleni – the State of the City address — was presented by executive mayor of Ekurhuleni Mzwandile Masina to a crowd of thousands outside the Germiston Council Chambers on March 29 2017.

Describing the work carried out by the city as building on the solid foundations for progress that have been laid by the successive leadership collective before this administration, Masina said that the democratic task of leading transformation is born of the will of the people, and by implication imposes on them the need to always uphold the principle of a people-centred local government.

“Our efforts to build a capable city with the capacity to transform and improve the lives of the people of Ekurhuleni happens in a national and international environment that is constantly changing and requires simultaneous evolution from us,” said Masina. “Our existence in this small corner of the world as a region is intimately tied to the fate of the people of this country, the continent and the global village broadly.

“The global political environment is experiencing major shifts. Democratic politics in the world over are confronted with serious questions of how to manage the tensions of economic difficulty and the need to sustain politics that uphold humanity.

“We have seen the rise of various shades of populist politics that use the currently strained global economic climate to advance hatred and discrimination. The global international system of economic trade, political co-operation, peace and stability is increasingly challenged by the rise of different economic nationalisms in the US and Europe.

“Whether these developments will lead to a break in the global political order as we know it and the birth of something new, is yet to be seen. One important thing that we must observe is the position of Africa and Africa’s economic development, peace and security in the wake of these shifts in global politics.”

Masina said that as the global environment changes, African economic and political solidarity that is built on effective democratic institutions, a culture of human rights, improved intra-Africa trade, economic integration and joint infrastructure programmes will become an important pillar for development.

Resolving political crisis

He mentioned the success of the African Union in handling the political situation in the Gambia, saying that this cannot be overstated.

“In successfully resolving a political crisis that almost descended to civil war, the African Union and other intervening African countries in West Africa demonstrated the forward march of Africa away from a past culture of violent transitions and the rule of tyrants against the will of the people — all within a framework of constitutionalism.”

Masina said that recognising Oliver Tambo’s birth, which occurred 100 years ago, presented an opportunity to reflect on his legacy and practically engage with the values that he espoused in his life. The relevance of this is due to the City of Ekurhuleni’s adoption of OR Tambo as a figure that inspires its ethical values and humanitarian approach to development and service delivery.

The mayor then mentioned the Siyaqhuba programme, which involves the transformation of the relationship between government authorities and struggling communities, saying that they wanted to build a democratic institution that fosters hope and extends opportunities to the most vulnerable.

“The Siyaqhuba service delivery programme has become a mechanism to understand the realities of the plight of our people,” he continued. “This is not just in the context of service delivery issues, but also to understand the hidden world which is infiltrating cosmopolitan development.

“Our interaction with girls as young as 12 entrapped in brothels well hidden in dilapidated buildings demonstrated how deep the cracks of inequality have become. We witnessed the usage of businesses to conceal the perverse underground illegal world which continues to drown our youth and target the most vulnerable.

“It is through the Siyaqhuba programme where officials, together with political heads, can understand that it is the smallest changes that can impact in the biggest and most fulfilling manner the ordinary man on the street.

“We are building a social contract based on humane values between the city and citizens in which the aspirations of our people, regardless of their current circumstances of poverty, can at least be given a fair opportunity for progress.”

Art to transform the youth

The mayor discussed the nation’s duty to satisfy the educational, social, cultural and economic needs of the youth, first focusing on their cultural, artistic and sports-related needs.

”In this financial year, we will carry out classes and exhibitions in all the auditoriums of our libraries across the city of Ekurhuleni. This will help us cultivate a sense of artistic activism in all our learning centres.

“Art in its various forms, from music to photography, serves both the spiritual and economic needs of communities. We want to grow this sector to offer a wide spectrum for the younger generation. We will also ensure they find it very easy to share our proud heritage, as they must not be deprived of the history and heritage of those who came before them.

“During this year, we will celebrate the life and times of [former ANC] president Oliver Tambo through theatre productions, arts, writing and music competitions. Over the next five years, we will sustain these arts programmes and theatre production and deliver arts and production workshops to emphasise tolerance, social cohesion and collective citizenship in community development.

“We will develop an OR Tambo Narrative Centre precinct which will include the establishment of the OR Tambo library and knowledge centre. This will create opportunities and spaces for our youth to talk, debate, listen, explore and to learn from the wise heroes throughout the history of South Africa, and connect Ekurhuleni with other cities of the world such as Reggio Emilia in Italy that provided political support to the people of South Africa during the days of apartheid.

“The narrative centre will give us access to an array of documents not previously available in South Africa.”

Further promoting the legacy of struggle giants, the City of Ekurhuleni has acquired the house of the late Chris Hani with plans to develop it into a fully-fledged museum, where his memorabilia will be exhibited.

“Ekurhuleni has a rich legacy of leaders, heroes and heroines and we will identify and celebrate a suite of Ekurhuleni ambassadors in sport, culture, science, technology, fashion who can identify with our key attractions, investments and provide role models for our young people and aspiring achievers.

”We are determined to increase capital investment in sports infrastructure. We want to produce great talent in all fields of the arts through school and community programmes, and will spend R91-million in the three-year medium term period in the construction of community social amenities such as a new swimming pool in Duduza, a library in Etwatwa and the Germiston Theatre.”

The city is also working at rolling out parks for recreational activities in its communities with completed environmental impact assessments, as well as park designs for Nyoni Park in Vosloorus and Welgedacht Park in Springs. It has also increased its allocation for aid grants to nongovernmental organisations working in communities from R20-million to R100-million per annum.

”We have maintained affordability of access to cemeteries by our communities for burial rites. We are not going to increase the levies that are paid in cemeteries. The tariffs will not increase at all.

“We are also grateful to the churches in our communities for the work they do, and in recognition of the important role that they continue to perform we have 89 pieces of land that we are going to give away to the church community.”

Safety and security

What appeared to have sparked the fierce debate on the day was the issue of safety and security, which is one concern mirrored in other municipalities around the country.

Said the mayor on this issue: “As we build new settlements and improve the standards of existing ones, it is important to remind each other that the health, cohesion and progress of our communities requires a safe and secure environment. We must strengthen community policing, community co-operation and responsible citizenship.

“I personally shivered when I heard the horrific story of the Quantum hijackings — the savages and vultures that prey on the most vulnerable people of our communities. It is shameful that we have individuals that still disregard women as humans. Women who are breadwinners, women that raise children single-handedly.

“Every day there are women who wake up as early as 3am daily to commute to work, who have no choice but to use public transport. The plight of women no longer needs just intervention from law enforcement agencies. We need a social movement beyond race and class that will stand as a voice for every woman in society. Not in our name will any women be subjected to such brutality and humiliation. Enough is enough.

“In January this year we opened the Zonkizizwe Precinct to enhance the visibility of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department in communities and serve as a centre to co-ordinate co-operation between the police and communities in combating crime. We are currently building more precincts in Tembisa, Kwa Thema and Tsakane.

“We will continue to clean up our communities and towns to ensure the safety of citizens and protect our youth from unscrupulous crime syndicates,” said Masina.

The city has established a Land Invasion Unit to address the invasion of RDP houses and illegal connections, and has also converted 729 peace corps members into traffic wardens as part of its commitment to improving traffic control around the city. They will also help in monitoring roads and enforcing speed and license regulations to decrease the number of road accidents.

“We have seen devastating images of houses, especially in informal settlements, being razed to the ground by fires. We have seen families losing homes to natural disasters such as floods during the rainy season. We have to constantly improve our ability to respond timeously and effectively to such problems and limit the loss of lives and property, especially among poor people.

“In the next two years we have budgeted R94-million for firefighting, rescue operators, ambulances and primary response units to improve our disaster management [abilities]. We have put in place plans to build six new fire stations in the next five years around the city, and have already begun with construction of the Albertina Sisulu Fire Station in Kempton Park,” concluded Masina.