Major achievements mark progress on Top 10 Priorities
29-01-2015
Tangible progress on Johannesburg Ten Priority Programmes was made during the 2013/14 financial year, in addition to the City’s solid financial performance and increased spending on its capital budget.
City Manager, Trevor Fowler, says the 10 Priorities flow from the implementation of the Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy. Among the highlights noted in the Annual Report are:
• Financial sustainability and resilience: The City’s financial performance has “improved exponentially” in the last few years. It enjoys a healthy financial position with R5-billion in cash and cash equivalents in the bank on a monthly basis.
• Agriculture and food security: The creation of a food bank, the introduction of food gardens and the establishment of a Food Empowerment Zone in the south of Johannesburg, which are helping the City to reach its annual target of a 20% reduction in food insecurity.
• Sustainable Human Settlements: The programme is working to provide housing for the marginalised and the poor and to service the rental market through the initiatives taken by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO).
• SMME and Entrepreneurial Support: The groundwork for the City programme, now known as Jozi@Work, was done during the financial year. Through this initiative, people will deliver services themselves in partnership with Government, rather than relying solely on the City to do so.
• Engaged Active Citizenry Programme: A community-based planning model was introduced which enables the City to engage residents of wards in the identification of local issues that must receive priority attention.
• Resource Sustainability: The City is linking programmes together to achieve economies of scale that will result in a reduction in wastage of water and electricity. The Waste Minimisation Programme, including separation of waste at source, was launched through five pilot projects.
• Smart City: A notable achievement has been the establishment of an intelligent operating centre (IOC), that uses available data to predict future trends in the City. Data on crime trends, for example, has enabled the City to deploy its response teams more effectively.
• Investment Attraction, Retention and Expansion: Johannesburg has grown into the most visited city on the continent of Africa. Support provided to SMMEs and cooperatives resulted in the creation of almost 1 400 direct new jobs. More than R2.6-billion of investment was attracted to the City – surpassing the target by 143%.
• Green Economy: The City continues with the roll-out of smart meters to monitor and manage electricity usage more efficiently. Citizens were also encouraged to invest in solar energy to generate their own electricity.
• Safer Cities: Through initiatives such as the IOC the City has achieved a 34% reduction in corruption while the extended utilisation of the CCTV system resulted in lower crime figures.