Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - October 17, 2004
These strategic priorities - outlined in the city's 2004-05 Integrated Development Plan - include sustainable development and environmental management, service delivery, housing, public safety and bylaw enforcement, transport and basic services.
Other key priorities include fighting poverty, good governance, strategic management and HIV/Aids prevention and management.
Executive mayor Amos Masondo says the council is making significant progress in its goal of creating the right environment for a world-class African city.
He says citizens' quality of life can be improved by sustainable economic development, increased efficiency at the micro level and the support of key growth sectors.
The city recently embarked on a R200-million programme to tar all gravel roads in Soweto by December 2005.
The mayor says some areas in Soweto are almost 100 years old and citizens have had to live under a cloud of dust during dry seasons and with muddy streets during rain. This has made residents, especially children, vulnerable to opportunistic illnesses such as tuberculosis.
Masondo says roads in Orlando East, Diepkloof, Pimville, Moroka and Dlamini have already been tarred. Work is continuing in other areas, including some outside Soweto in the north of the city like Ivory Park, Diepsloot and Alexandra.
In the furthest point of the city, construction is also taking place at Orange Farm. Projects are under way to grass and fence dusty, open playing fields at Phiri-Senaoane and Mapetla.
These development projects are driven by a multi-purpose approach, including upgrading street lighting and providing training and 400 local jobs through the construction of these facilities.
In Phiri, Soweto, crammed four-roomed units allocated to two families have been converted to one-family houses. The second families have been moved to Bramfischerville, where they get proper housing.
Masondo says Johannesburg has a long history of a few people who can afford a good life in the north and the majority of the poor living in the south. One of the city's challenges is to find a balance between the two groups of inhabitants.
He says renewal projects at Kliptown's Walter Sisulu Square - where the Freedom Charter was drafted - have also made progress. A taxi rank and small business premises have been built while tarred roads and brighter lighting have been installed. Show houses are under construction and a roll-out will take place soon.
Meanwhile, in the city centre, old buildings are being renovated and new buildings built. Masondo says a municipal court has been set up at the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and the Johannesburg Municipal Police Department will soon be reading the by-laws to those who undermine good behaviour and trash the city.
The city has been making progress on security. Masondo says crime is under control and camera surveillance has helped make the CBD safer. He says the City Safety Strategy will continue helping to tackle crime by involving all major role players including the police, the council, business, residents and other interest groups.
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