City pledges to continue with Corridors of Freedom

25 November 2016

 

The new City of Johannesburg administration will not abandon programmes initiated under former Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau, including the Corridors of Freedom, Jozi@Work, Smart City and free Wi-Fi.

 

This assurance was given by Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development Cllr Nonhlanhla Sifumba in response to remarks made by ANC Cllr Loyiso Masuku during a monthly council meeting on Thursday November 24.

 

Cllr Masuku said these and other programmes were the pillars of economic growth and youth empowerment in Johannesburg and should not be abandoned. She urged that the programmes be continued to enable Johannesburg to position itself as a world-class African city.

 

Masuku added that her party would always continue to advance and defend transformation “from anyone or any party that seeks to reverse the gains of democracy”. 

 

In response, MMC Sifumba promised Cllr Masuku that all the programmes would be continued. She made the promise during the tabling of her portfolio’s fourth-quarter report by the Chairperson of the Community Development Committee, Cllr Meshack van Wyk, which showed that the department had achieved 72% of its 52 key performance indicators (KPIs) for the financial year.

 

Cllr Van Wyk said a lot of progress had been made with regard to developing sport, promoting social cohesion and implementing library programmes. He said the performances of the department and its units, including the Johannesburg City Theatres (JCT) and Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo (JCPZ), had remained consistent.

 

He said JCT had achieved all 20 of its KPIs. It had collected a revenue of R143-million against a target of R126-million by the end of the fourth quarter. Cllr Van Wyk said JCT spent 100% of its annual allocated adjusted capex budget of R4.9-million.

 

“We’re pleased about the progress the department has made so far. However, we are mindful that the road ahead will be challenging. We remain committed to changing the lives of all people of Johannesburg as promised,” Van Wyk said.

 

He, however, expressed disappointment that JCPZ had managed to spend only R62-million or 72% of its capital projects budget allocation of R87 million. “The importance of capital budget spending cannot be overstated, as a lack of spending results in poor service delivery,” he said.