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Ten affordable housing projects coming to Cape Town!

Cape Town residents will be happy to know that ten City-owned sites in the city centre – Salt River and Woodstock – will be developed into affordable housing opportunities for those who need it most.
Cape Town’s population has increased by 56% between 1996 and 2016, and this trend is set to continue. The City of Cape Town estimates that approximately 650 000 families earning less than R13 000 a month will rely on the City for housing assistance between now and 2032.
Three of these sites have already been allocated to social housing institutions. The statutory land-use applications are under way and construction is expected to start in due course.
The City has also identified five City-owned land parcels for the development of affordable housing opportunities in Salt River, Woodstock, and the inner-city.

The precinct-led development in Woodstock and Salt River is a pivotal introduction to a customer-centric approach to housing delivery. It is a new way of doing business which we will apply in all of the other precincts where we intend to provide affordable and inclusionary housing on City-owned land.
– Councillor Brett Herron

Click here to read more delivery success stories from the DA’s 2017 year in local government

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DA-led Cape Town launches Africa’s first large-scale waste-to-energy plant

In January this year the DA-led City of Cape Town launched a R400 million waste-to-energy plant in Athlone, Cape Town.
New Horizons Energy’s plant processes more than 500 tons of municipal solid waste, wet trade waste and pure organic waste into environmentally considerate energy and recycled bi-products. The plant is the first of its kind in Africa and the well-known gas company Afrox is responsible for distributing the final products to the public.
New Horizons Energy has been working in partnership with the Western Cape Government’s funded entity, Green Cape – which has provided the necessary technical support. At the same time, Green Cape is working with other municipalities and businesses across the Province to roll out similar initiatives.

There are enormous economic advantages to renewable technologies, combined with natural gas. We will keep making progress on this crucial game changer. – Premier’s Spokesperson, Michael Mpofu

Click here to read more delivery success stories from the DA’s 2017 year in local government

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Cape Town Investigations are Progressing

The Democratic Alliance is closely following the developments in the City of Cape Town, and we are determined that all substantive allegations will be investigated fully and without any fear or favour by a totally independent investigator.
It is entirely appropriate and correct that these allegations are investigated thoroughly, and that a full report is presented to Council as soon as the investigation is completed.
The specific timeline is as follows:

  • The Audit Committee has appointed an outside investigator;
  • On Tuesday 5 December the Council will meet to decide on the suspension of the officials involved;
  • The Investigator will complete its investigation within 30 days, and no later than 29 December 2017;
  • Thereafter, the Investigator’s full report will be presented to Council;
  • Separately to this, the DA’s Federal Executive decided to establish an enquiry into obvious political tensions in the Cape Town Caucus in June 2017. This enquiry was chaired by John Steenhuisen MP, and included John Moodey MPL, Patricia Kopane MP, and Councillor Karen Smith.  This enquiry has completed its work, and is waiting for final responses before it compiles its report for submission to the Federal Executive.

It is important to note that the allegations involve serious questions of good governance and maladministration. One of the individuals implicated, Mayor de Lille, has suggested in her public communications that this investigation is an attempt to undermine the DA government’s efforts to spatially integrate Cape Town’s communities. This is patently nonsense, as a basic reading of the documentation shows. The DA’s efforts to integrate Cape Town was a pledge of our 2016 election manifesto, and is a commitment of the entire DA, not one person alone. The entire DA caucus in Cape Town completely supports this goal.
Nor is this an issue of factionalism in the caucus. Such narratives are being deliberately crafted to muddy the waters for the investigation. They are nothing more than purposeful misdirection, and should be seen as such.
We call on all those who have the City and the DA’s best interests at heart to focus on supporting and co-operating with the investigation into the specific allegations of maladministration.
The DA regards this matter extremely seriously, and we will not allow any sullying of our record as the only party of clean government. We will also take steps to ensure that this matter does not in any way disrupt the good work that the City of Cape Town is doing to alleviate the current water crisis, and that the City’s stated targets for new water augmentation are met.

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Cape Town working to transform Kalkfontein informal settlement

As part of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP), the City of Cape Town will be upgrading the Kalkfontein informal settlement, which includes the provision of toilets, taps, and electricity connections for each of the 833 serviced sites. In addition, each household will receive either a title deed or tenure certificate once the upgrade has been completed.
When a title deed is transferred to residents, it empowers them to pursue economic opportunities by giving them an asset they can leverage to access the formal economy. The sense of ownership provided by title creates a framework where residents feel better able and motivated to improve their space.

We are taking proactive measures to improve the lives of those on the housing database by providing a higher level of basic services to residents as they wait for their opportunity for formal housing, as well as formalising residents’ ownership of the land on which they live.
– Councillor Anda Ntsede Ntsodo

Read the full article here

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Cape Town's sixth 'Smart Park' opens

The City of Cape Town’s latest smart park is officially open to the public
The facility in Seawinds near Lavender Hill is the City’s sixth smart park, following similar ventures in Atlantis, Nomzamo, Delft, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu.

The park includes a water play area where children can learn about the water cycle and splash around in shallow water, an area focused on younger children’s play, a multipurpose playground, two multipurpose courts that can host a variety of ball games, a picnic area and covered stage, as well as outdoor exercise areas.
The water play area works on a recycle process, where water is reused and circulates through the river stream and log channel. Inside the pump house, the reused water is cycled through a filtration process. Overflow from the underground storage tank is fed back into the surrounding trees via a subsoil drain pipe.

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4000 lower-income families to benefit from CPT inner-city social housing

The DA-run City of Cape Town has identified 11 City-owned sites, all less than 5km away from the Cape Town central business district (CBD), for affordable housing developments, providing over 4000 lower-income families with the opportunity to live on well-located land close to work opportunities and public transport.
The City is determined to stop urban sprawl, reverse apartheid spatial planning, and build integrated communities that celebrate our diversity and cultures. Despite income disparities and exorbitant land prices, the City of Cape Town will demonstrate that all income groups can live in the inner city by leveraging City-owned land to build integration in the urban core.
In fulfilling the City of Cape Town’s vision and commitment of redressing the imbalances of the past, these developments will bring people closer to economic development and provide affordable housing located close to public transport corridors.
 

This is a major turning point for Cape Town that will pave the way for building more vibrant, integrated and sustainable communities.
– Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille

 
The 11 affordable housing developments are located at the following sites:

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DA condemns violent protests at CPUT

The DA condemns the violence at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT) Cape Town and Bellville campuses.
We call for calm and believe the people responsible for petrol bombing the institution’s engineering building must be brought to book.
The student protests are about contracts offered to staff who are being insourced, as well as the interdict brought against four students who have been accused of disrupting a council meeting, threatening to burn down buildings and holding members hostage.
In these and all other matters, it is vitally important that negotiations continue. Insourced staff and university management should not be disrupted in their attempts to discuss these matters. And students need to commit to peaceful protest and rational negotiation. Destroying property at our universities only seeks to undermine the potential for parties to meet each other halfway; it often means that the rest of the student population, who are not protesting, are not free to attend classes.
The only way forward is through constructive discussions. This will ensure exams are not disrupted and actual solutions to difficult problems will be found.
Students who do not want to participate in the protests must be able to write exams and should not be victimised for wanting to improve their lives. Their freedoms should not be restricted. They should be free to learn and study in a safe environment.

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Let the Metros run passenger rail services

The following speech was delivered by DA Leader Mmusi Maimane at the Transport and Mobility Summit in Nelson Mandela Bay yesterday evening.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The clock is ticking for our young nation. We have no time to waste. The report on poverty trends released this week by Stats SA paints a bleak picture indeed of the daily lives of South Africans.
According to this report, over 55% of South Africans live in poverty. That’s more than 30 million people, and the graph is heading in the wrong direction.
Economic exclusion and the social ills that go hand-in-hand with this are very much a product of our brutal and unjust past. This is especially true in public transport, because black and coloured South Africans were uprooted and dumped on the distant peripheries of towns and cities.
Efficient, affordable and reliable public transport networks is one very important way of undoing this legacy, and loosening the grip of poverty.
But like in many other areas of public policy, we have not done nearly enough to fight poverty with excellent public transport.
And when I say we, I mean all of us. The temptation is to point fingers at the failings of the ANC government alone, as if that somehow absolves us. We must do what we can with what we have until we are in national government. And right now, the DA governs, in some form, for around 16 million South Africans in metros and municipalities.
Our cities can and should lead the drive for economic development in South Africa. Cities governed by the DA must be the shining example of how efficient, clean and responsive governments can attract investment and create jobs. And importantly, our cities are best placed to build and maintain transport infrastructure.
These things are within our control. We have the power to make a big difference in the lives of many poor South Africans, and with that power comes big responsibility.
In every sphere and level of government, it is our job to reverse the legacy of centuries of colonial rule and decades of Apartheid. If correcting the wrongs of the past is not at the centre of every single thing we do, then we are in the wrong job.
Spatial segregation was at the very heart of Apartheid planning. Unlike many cities across the world where the poor are clustered in and around the city centre, the architects of Apartheid had the exact opposite in mind.
Here, our poorest citizens find themselves pushed to the outskirts of the city, isolated from opportunities. This was a deliberate strategy to keep black South Africans poor and powerless, and it worked.
While most middle-class residents in suburbs have a relatively short and inexpensive commute to their work, poor South Africans in outlying townships find themselves spending up to 40% of their income just to get to work and back.
But it’s not only the cost or the inconvenience of the commute that holds people back. Poor families also suffer because they are robbed of their time together. And this is something middle class South Africans don’t always realise.
For someone living in the suburbs who has to get their children to school before commuting to work, the morning will typically start at around 6am. They will return home in daylight hours, and get to spend quality time with their families before going to bed.
Compare this to the millions of South Africans who set their alarm clocks for 4 in the morning and send their children off to school in the pitch dark before starting on a 2 or 3 hour commute to work.
No one can ever get this stolen time back.
If we want to talk about creating a fair society, where all our people can enjoy the freedom they were promised since the dawn of our democracy, then breaking down the walls of Apartheid spatial planning must be a top priority.
We can do so by integrating communities through affordable housing solutions across all areas of our cities. But we can also do so by connecting people in our outlying communities to opportunities in our cities through better public transport.
Without being in national government, the provision of reliable, affordable transport is one of the best ways we can impact the lives of the people for whom we govern.
Efficient transport drives economic inclusion. It brings people to places of opportunity, and it connects employers with the unemployed.
I am hugely encouraged by the work our new Metro Mayors are doing in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay in tackling the transport challenges they inherited in these cities.After just a year in office, the changes are already visible.
Already, Mayor Trollip’s administration has begun to integrate Nelson Mandela Bay.
After staggering losses of R2bn to fruitless expenditure in the last 5 years of the ANC government in this Metro, it is hugely encouraging to know that the city will finally get the world class transport system it deserves.
Equally encouraging is news that engagements with PRASA have led to commitments to construct a rail line connecting Motherwell with the CBD. This will see 7.8km of rail and three new stations linking the people of Motherwell to opportunities in the city.
This is a big step forward from the previous Metro government that spent R100m on buses that couldn’t even fit onto the city’s roads.
In Johannesburg, the City has assisted 110 minibus taxi operators in Johannesburg to complete a first-ever course in business and financial management through the Wits School of Governance.
Mayor Mashaba’s administration has also declared war on potholes and broken traffic lights, and these efforts have already made a noticeable difference across the city.
In Tshwane there are plans to expand the A Re Yeng Bus Rapid Transport System as well as to increase the number of people using the Tshwane Bus Service.
Mayor Msimanga’s administration also reviewed bus fares in June in order to make the service more affordable for unemployed residents seeking job opportunities.
In addition to lower fares across all routes, there are also new concessions for scholars, pensioners and people with disabilities.
Just one year in, these DA governments have already had a visible impact on the lives of the people of these cities.
But when it comes to radically altering the way a city’s people move about, you need a little more time. The people of the City of Cape Town, after 11 years under a DA government, are now seeing the benefit of long-term planning by a stable, capable local government when it comes to transport.
The world-class MyCiti bus service already provides a rapid bus service as well as feeder service to thousands of Capetonians in areas such as Blouberg, Melkbosstrand, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and Hout Bay, with routes now also rolling out in Philippi, Nyanga and other poorly serviced parts of the City.
And as the next five corridor routes are completed over the coming years, the Cape Town Metro will become a far more accessible place for all its people.
The design of the MyCiti buses makes Cape Town the only city with disabled-friendly public transport, and this is topped-up with the Dial-A-Ride service for those unable to use mainstream transport.
The new initiative announced by the DA government in Cape Town earlier this year, in which jobseekers will get free rides on the MyCiti network thanks to a subsidy from the City, is another great way in which barriers to employment are being broken down.
But bus routes will only get us so far. To truly unlock the potential of our cities, we must get our people back onto trains in great numbers. Because, when properly run, commuter rail holds the key to connecting the bulk of our people with economic opportunities.
Again, using Cape Town as an example, the deterioration of the Metrorail service has had a profound impact on the City’s ability to move people in and out of town.
Over the past four years, the number of passengers boarding trains daily in Cape Town has dropped by a staggering 43%. Delays, service interruptions and crime have become so commonplace that many commuters have abandoned the trains for good.
And these people all ended up on the roads in taxis, in buses and in cars, making Cape Town South Africa’s most congested city. Every day around 260,000 cars enter the city’s CBD. The roads simply cannot cope with this volume of traffic.
The solution is to allow the City to bring commuter rail into its transport plan by giving it control of the rail networks, the stations and the land on which these lie.
The Metro government is in a far better position than PRASA to get the most out of the city’s rail network and to run it properly. if our Metros ran their own train systems, then voters could hold us accountable for the success or failure to deliver a reliable train service.
It makes no sense that such a vital public service is run by people who are totally unaccountable to the public.
In many ways this is similar to the SAA story, but with trains, not planes. And frankly, the implications for poverty and economic growth are far more profound than with a failing airline.
National government has an opportunity to fix this in their new National Rail Strategy by assigning the management of Metrorail to the City.
So let me issue a sincere call to national government here: let DA-led Metro governments run passenger rail networks in those cities. Give us the opportunity to run an efficient, well-run, accountable passenger train service and I promise you we will not let you down.
You should not see this as a threat, but as an opportunity. If you care about dismantling barriers to economic opportunity and fighting the legacy of Apartheid, then you should be willing to do whatever it takes to deliver a great public transport system. Even if that means giving it to us to deliver.
And I ask all of our Mayors and Mayoral Committee Members responsible for public transport: take forward this request in your engagement with national government. They will take some persuading, but to me, it is a “no brainer”.
Public transport should be delivered by local governments, not by a distant unaccountable state-owned company.
Ladies and gentlemen, when I speak of our cities, I don’t mean the way they look today. I mean the cities of our future.
Rapid urbanisation has already had a dramatic impact on the way we move around our cities, and this trend will increase sharply over the coming decades. We must plan our transport systems for how our cities will look 30 or 40 years from now.
We must think big, and be prepared to invest just as big. A bus system that can barely service the people of Johannesburg today will certainly not cope with the needs of a city of 20 million people a few decades from now.
Let’s explore all the options. Perhaps it is finally time for an underground metro rail for South Africa’s beating economic heart.
Cape Town may have had a ten year head start on the other DA-run metros, but I know that Mayors Mashaba, Msimanga and Trollip are not daunted by the idea of playing catch-up.
I know they lead teams of committed and competent people who care deeply about the plight of poor South Africans. And I know that they can replicate, and even surpass, the transport successes achieved over the past decade in Cape Town.
When we meet again for a summit like this, I hope it will be to discuss our transport plans as national government, and how we can bring freedom, fairness and opportunity to all the people of South Africa.
Thank you.

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BOKAMOSO | One year on, and the DA is making real progress in our cities

The following is a report-back on progress being made in the DA-run metros, one year after the local government elections on 3 August 2016.

One year ago this week, South Africans went to the polls in the most historic and game-changing election since 1994. Our democracy witnessed a significant shift in power, as a DA-led coalition took over three new metros: Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay. This meant the DA took control of more than 50% of the country’s local government budget, governing for over 16 million South Africans.

This broad governing coalition is a critical step towards a post-ANC South Africa. Opposition parties from across the political spectrum agreed to put aside differences and focus on shared goals: to stop corruption, to create jobs, and to deliver basic services. One year on, the national coalition agreement still stands and is producing positive results. While coalitions pose their own unique challenges, and are often difficult to manage, they are the future of South Africa – and must be embraced. Moreover, these cities will provide the blueprint for a 2019 coalition at national government level, led by the DA. We are preparing the road to a post-ANC South Africa; a new beginning for our country.

From day one, we have worked hard to ensure that the mess we inherited from the ANC is reversed, and that stable and efficient governments are put in place, committed to creating jobs and delivering quality services to the people.

When DA-led governments assumed office in the metros of Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay in August last year, they were faced with the mammoth task of turning around cities which were beleaguered with ANC corruption and maladministration on almost every level. Over the course of two decades, the ANC had run these administrations into the ground. They had become hotbeds of corruption and looting under the ANC, and were in financial and administrative disarray. The extent of the mess we found cannot be overstated.

In Johannesburg, we inherited a city characterised by a historical neglect of the basics of local government. There was little to no real service delivery, and a growing population of jobless South Africans desperate for opportunity. There were serious backlogs in areas critical to achieving economic and job growth, which required immediate action.

The City of Johannesburg currently has 1920 open investigations ranging from corruption and fraud, theft, building hijacking and the like; all totaling approximately R10,4 billion in revenue lost by the City. These cases are equivalent to about 19% of the City’s total budget. Cases relating to allegations of corruption represent an astounding R8.9 billion in lost revenue, which could have been used to provide needed services to residents and upgrade city infrastructure.

Added to this, the ANC had created a massive backlog in infrastructure development and maintenance, a R232 billion funding gap, which would directly jeopardise our capital expenditure needs. Moreover, we were left with a housing backlog of 300 000 – the previous administration had only delivered 3500 houses per year on average. This was a crisis waiting to unfold.

The billing crisis that the City is currently working to fix is a direct result of the previous ANC administration’s sheer failure to institute proper processes, and enforce equitable payment methods. The DA-led administration is focused on resolving this matter.

Moreover, we inherited a city with 180 informal settlements, many of which have no basic services and people who have waited for decades on a housing list, which has never been transparent and available to them.

In Tshwane, the DA-led government was handed a bloated and inefficient bureaucracy, riddled with financial irregularities. The City was on the verge of bankruptcy with a deficit in excess of R2 billion. The Office of the Executive Mayor had a total staff compliment of 998 personnel, many of which were ANC members drawing money from the state while doing nothing. Moreover, the Office of the City Manager inherited a structure inflated and bloated to include four Deputy City Managers, eight Regional Executive Directors, and their deputies, carrying a salary bill of R96 million a year.

We were also faced with R10 million worth of invoices submitted to the former Office of the Speaker for “work” done during the period 2014, 2015 and 2016. This “work” could not be corroborated, nor was there justification for the payments.

The ANC administration had seen fit to spend R12 million to upgrade the R90 million mayoral house, which ended in disaster. Large scale loss occurred, as the plumbing system, cupboards, and even the roof were left damaged. Mayor Msimanga took a decision to sell this mansion to free up funds for service delivery projects.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, the abuse of public funds was evident from day one. We immediately discovered questionable contracts entered into by the previous administration – the most telling being for the supply of light bulbs at R600 per bulb. Moreover, the former Mayor had seen fit to splash out R250 000 of public money to get his face onto the front cover of a magazine, and to blow R21 million on a vanity project called the ‘City of Champions’ that was nothing but a frivolous waste of money with no local government purpose, function or outcome.

We discovered a contract worth R22 million with Mohlaleng Media which duplicated the work of municipal staff and predictably delivered negligible outcomes. Mayor Athol Trollip immediately froze this contract.

From day one, DA-led governments have moved to dismantle the corrupt systems we found, banning the extravagant perks and privileges enjoyed by ANC governed officials, and introducing thorough and corruption-proof processes and systems to fundamentally overhaul what the previous ANC administrations had deliberately designed to enrich their cronies and comrades.

While there is still much to be done in these cities, we have made significant progress to change the system towards people-orientated governments that are clean, efficient, and accountable to the public. Here follows a summary of progress made in each of the DA-run metros.

Johannesburg

Under the DA-led government in Johannesburg, the City is well on its way to strengthening its hand as the economic powerhouse of Africa. People from all around the country flock to the City in hope of finding opportunity and creating a better life, and as such, the City is under great demand to deliver. Mayor Mashaba’s administration has risen to the challenge and has taken huge strides in moving Johannesburg forward.

Transport within the City has been a long-standing challenge, with hundreds of thousands of residents requiring access to reliable public transport. Metrobus operates just under 400 buses carrying over 50 000 passengers daily, some of whom are amongst the poorest residents of our city. The City has thus increased Metrobus’s capacity by 50%, adding 200 new buses to its fleet, providing residents with greater access to transport.

Added to this, Metro Bus has added additional operating times on the OR Tambo International Airport route during off-peak hours to connect commuters with airlines. This will mean that Metro Bus will now offer seven daily trips to and from the Airport terminals and at Gandhi Square in Johannesburg CBD.

In the current financial year, the City has allocated R105 million for the installation and repair of broken traffic signals throughout the City. This year alone, 89 intersections were re-cabled and are now joint free. There has also been an 18% reduction in the average number of daily traffic light faults over the past seven months. This has resulted in a 55% reduction in the average traffic light downtime per day.

Access to decent sanitation is a basic human right, and ought to be a priority for any caring government. This matter was neglected by the previous ANC administration, and as such, the DA-led government more than doubled the previous sanitation budget, increasing it from R17 million to R40 million. This will enhance the delivery of decent sanitation to the City’s informal settlements, highlighting our commitment to restore the dignity of Johannesburg’s forgotten people.

To improve access to health services for some of our poorest residents, the City has rolled out extended operating hours at 6 clinics across Johannesburg, including clinics in Princess Park, Freedom Park, Randburg, and Zandspruit.

For some, municipal libraries remain the only safe haven to study after hours in pursuit of a better education. Despite this, access to these libraries was limited. Therefore the City moved to extend operating hours at 10 of our regional libraries – some open until as late as 22h00including libraries in Jabavu, Orange Farm and Diepsloot. This will go a long way in ensuring that our youth, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, have safe learning and studying environments after hours. Since piloting this project just two months ago, more than 2000 users have benefitted from the extended operating hours.

Moreover, R482 million has been set aside within Pikitup’s budget for cleaning informal settlements over the next three financial years, guaranteeing that a cleaner living environment is not reserved for just a few.

A still visible legacy of apartheid is prevalent in the City’s housing shortage. Yet, last year the previous ANC administration had a target of developing only 3,750 mixed housing development units. Alive to this injustice, the DA-led government increased this target to 5,000 in the City’s current financial year and a total of 17,200 over the medium term.

Added to this, the City has set itself the task of upgrading 10 informal settlements this financial year, whereas the ANC set itself a target of upgrading only 2 in the past financial year. We have budgeted R1.9 billion to upgrade 50 informal settlements in the medium term.

The City’s fire services were severely under-resourced when the DA took over last year. Mayor Mashaba authorized the purchase of 28 new state-of-the-art fire engines, at a total cost of R189 million. The City has also taken steps to employ an additional 160 firefighters to enhance the capacity of its Emergency Management Services (EMS).

The effects of drug abuse and drug related crimes have long plagued the city, wreaking havoc on individuals, families, and communities. The City has launched a brand new K9-Narcotics Unit to tackle this scourge. The unit, made up of various authorities including police and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, is a specialised team of officers and dogs who are trained to handle hijackings, robberies, bombs, kidnappings and drug-related incidents.

To date, the Unit’s laser focus on drug related crimes in hotspot areas has yielded much success, including the seizure of 56.28kg of dagga at an estimated street value of R 1.2 million; the recovery of R60 million in stolen mobile phones; and the seizure of 27 kilograms of illicit drugs with an estimated value of more than R44 000 in Turffontein and Roodepoort.

Tshwane

When the DA-led government took over in Tshwane, the Capital City was on the verge of bankruptcy – with a deficit in excess of R2 billion owing to two decades of reckless governance by the ANC. Since then, Mayor Solly Msimanga’s administration has begun addressing a multitude of cross-cutting problems to help stabilise the city, grow its economy, and provide basic services to the disadvantaged. This will be done through a balanced IDP supported by a fully-funded budget.

The City inherited an almost R700 million broadband contract. The City is currently working to get it on a solid legal and financial footing, so that we can continue with the roll out of free Wi-Fi in a manner that does not threaten to bankrupt the city. The aim is to proliferate our Wi-Fi offering to ensure that more residents gain access to it while it is self-sufficient and is not solely reliant on the city as was the case in the previous administration.

The City is currently also in the process of extricating itself from a R2 billion smart meter contract which was found to be irregular by the Auditor-General. Legal proceedings are currently underway and we are optimistic that this will put the city in a much better position to provide affordable and sustainable electricity to our people.

Within one year, the City has uncovered corruption by the previous administration, including the City Hall scandal; the shoe polish debacle to the tune of R30 million; and the Dineokeng Tribe One Nicki Minaj fiasco that cost the residents of Tshwane in excess of R60 million and is currently under investigation by the DA-led multi-party administration. The extravagant Mayoral Mansion is currently in the process of being sold to free up much needed funds for the financially beleaguered City. To add to this, blue lights were banned, and the policy for international travel has been revised to ensure that all travel is cost effective and has tangible returns on investment for the city and its residents.

In terms of economic growth and job creation, the City has attracted R2.29 billion rand in investment in just nine months – exceeding its own target. In the new financial year, the City is creating 23 000 EPWP work opportunities to alleviate the burden of poverty and ensure people can find work.

The delivery of title deeds is a critical step towards empowering South Africans, as registered ownership of land is an economic asset. The DA-led government in Tshwane has to date handed over 2804 title deeds since assuming office and is scheduled to handover 6000 title deeds to residents in the 2017/18 in a transparent and objective process, and will continue to streamline this process in order to deliver title deeds to all who qualify.

With respect to service delivery to poor communities, the City of Tshwane is hard at work. This year, the City’s partnership with Eskom has allowed it to ensure that over 80% of households have access to electricity. Electricity delivery and cost has been addressed through the Embedded Power Generation programme, which has streamlined small and medium size power companies’ access to the market, democratising access and provision, and ultimately lowering the cost of electricity.

Along with this, City electricity infrastructure, such as the Eldoraigne substation, has been upgraded to ensure safe and consistent supply. Over R13 million has been invested in the restoration of water infrastructure around the city, ensuring that clean water is a right, not a privilege. An additional 6690 households were provided with a full water meter connection and 5256 additional households were provided with water borne sewerage disposal.

Large-scale infrastructure in areas such as the Hammanskraal extension 10 project, and the construction of tarred roads in Soshanguve Extension 12 and 13 have ensured that these communities have safe, dust free, and convenient transport routes in and out of the City.

To create a much safer and secure city the DA-led administration has allocated R2 billion to the metro police for efforts to rejuvenate the inner city so we can attract more investment and to the Anti-Cable theft Unit which Mayor Msimanga established to deal with the criminality that hampers the provision of reliable water and electricity to our people. These units have led to a marked decrease in such criminal behaviour. The issue of cable theft is a serious challenge which we are still a long way from correcting, but we are working to do so.

Drugs are a massive problem in the Capital City. Last month, the City signed 23 service level agreements with NPOs charged with assisting us with the war on drugs and not drug addicts. These service level agreements supported by R40 million from Tshwane 2017/18 new budget will go some way into dealing with, what is a, huge problem experienced by the people of Tshwane.

Lastly, the City instituted a raft of programmes designed to save money, chief among these being the strategic sourcing of goods and services by government, opening of the tender adjudication process, and online e-procurement systems – all aimed at curbing waste within government.

Nelson Mandela Bay

The project of turning around the fortunes of Nelson Mandela Bay was of particular importance to its DA-led government, as it was one of the worst performing metros in the country under ANC Mayor, Danny Jordaan. After only a single year of DA governance, the City rose from the second lowest trusted metro in the country, to the second highest – a real vote of confidence in Mayor Trollip and his government.

In the DA administration’s first budget, 90% has been allocated to previously disadvantaged individual and communities, ensuring that those left behind are afforded equal access to opportunity and the playing field is levelled. The City’s Capex rate is at 93%, and boasts a 93.7% revenue collection rate – the best financial position the metro has been in for over 7 years.

12 000 informal households are in the process of receiving running water and sanitation for the first time; a number that will continue to grow until all residents have a home they can be proud of.

One of the City’s flagship projects, Operation Buyisa Isidima, was launched this year, with a particular focus on fixing the housing crisis and giving people title to their homes. This has seen the handover of more than 2000 title deeds in a fair and transparent manner. The project seeks to address the housing backlog – currently standing at 80 000 – and to root out corruption in the housing list process.

In order to create a safer city, the DA-led administration established the City’s first Metro Police Service. This world-class service consists of 114 well-trained officers, with two satellite offices in Bethelsdorp and KwaNobuhle. The fight against crime in Nelson Mandela Bay is well underway.

Creating opportunity for those who have been left behind is a top priority for all DA-run governments. Thus far, the City has created 4000 new job opportunities, ensuring that individuals are able to participate in the economy and create a meaningful life for themselves and their loved ones.

To help young people to fulfill their potential, the City will provide bursaries to 1800 students – to the total value of R34 million. Moreover 300 young people have already this year gone through learnerships in the City, to ensure that they have the requisite skills to provide them access to better jobs.

Hand in hand with the above programmes, the Mayor will establish a “Jobs Desk” in his office that will facilitate the municipal bursary process, and will expand incentives for business to employ first time job seekers.

The Mayor has taken significant steps to reverse the ANC’s status quo of “government first, citizens last”. The use of blue lights in the City was stopped, all domestic business class travel for politicians was banned, and an anti-corruption hotline was launched to root out corruption in government.

City of Cape Town

In the 2016 elections, the residents of Cape Town gave the DA a fresh mandate to govern the City for another term, and to continue the progress already made by the DA-controlled government in the preceding years. Since then, Mayor De Lille and her government have been hard at work to continue the City’s innovative and pro-poor agenda in a clean, honest and efficient manner.

In the City of Cape Town, creating work opportunities for our people through economic growth remains a top priority. In the past year, despite the poor economic conditions, which persist nationwide, the City attracted R2.67 billion worth of investment, resulting in the creation of 6236 new jobs. In order to create and sustain an enabling environment for economic growth and job creation, R22 billion has been invested over the last four years in a wide range of infrastructure projects to foster innovation and ease the burden of doing business in the City.

In order to empower young people and establish an equipped work force, the City will spend a total of R21 million on an array of bursaries, apprenticeships, and learnerships for young people who do not have access to such funding during the current financial leave.

Access to the internet is a determinate factor both in the development of new technology-dependent businesses, as well as access to information for individuals. To this date, over 790 kilometres of fibre-optic cable has been rolled out throughout the city, and 301 city-owned buildings are connected to this network. We are renting out our extra capacity to the private sector. As a result, students in libraries can now access information faster, our clinics are more effective and can process and catalog key information faster, and business can compete with others in developed economies.

Focusing on small businesses as a primary catalyst for economic growth, the City has established a one-stop shop solution to support small and medium sized businesses (SMMEs). Its Business Support Project will provide assistance to 500 SMMEs per year, for the next 5 years, facilitating their growth and ensuring that entrepreneurs are given a real opportunity to innovate, grow and succeed.

In order to ease the burden on jobseekers, the City will be providing free transport for those looking for work – a South African first. The Mayor has allocated R6.6 million to subsidise free bus rides on MyCiti busses for jobseekers, enabling greater access to opportunity for those who are left out of the economy.

In terms of redress, the City has led from the front in empowering black-owned companies and individuals. The City has issued 92% of its 219 000 purchase orders to BEE-compliant vendors – to the value of almost R14 billion.

To address the unjust legacy of apartheid spatial planning, the City will expedite the delivery of housing opportunities through affordable housing in close proximity to economic hubs. 10 City-owned sites have been identified in the city centre, Salt River and Woodstock to be used for over 700 affordable housing units for those who need it most. There are future plans to create affordable housing in smaller inner-cities such as Bellville, Parow, Khayelitsha, Claremont, Mitchells Plain and Wynberg.

The City has sped up the delivery of title deeds, empowering individuals to use their property to leverage their own success. By June 2016, the City had registered more than 148 000 historic title deeds. Just last month, the Mayor handed over 5000 title deeds in the communities of Mfuleni, Wallacedene, Wesbank, and Kallefontein.

The City has begun a number of community projects in targeted areas, including the construction of a R23 million library in Dunoon, a R28 million housing project in Macassar, a R66 million road project in Kommetjie, and a R46 million primary health clinic in Pelican Park.

Conclusion

The DA recognises that while much progress has been made, there is still a long way to go. Now more than ever, the people of South Africa are looking to the DA to cement itself as the alternative government in a post-ANC South Africa. We thus commit to doing more and delivering more for every South African who falls under a DA-led government.

Our governments will continue to work hard to ensure that where we govern, we govern in an open, transparent and people-orientated manner. After decades of neglect by previous ANC administrations, the people of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town can have hope in their governments that are focused on delivering for the people. Where we govern, jobs are created, corruption is eradicated, and services are provided to all.

Being in government in these cities is both a privilege and an incredible opportunity for our party to demonstrate the positive change that can be effected when voters choose differently, and elect a clean, well-run, and service delivery orientated government.

Come 2019, South Africans will be faced with a decision at the polls. We can either allow the ANC to continue their looting and inability to govern, or we can elect a DA-led coalition to national government, one which will revive the dream of 1994 and get South Africa working again.

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One year of DA governance: South Africa reacts

Exactly one year ago today South Africans went to the polls in the most historic and game-changing election since 1994.
Our young democracy witnessed its most notable shift in power, as we won three new metros in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, adding to the DA-run City of Cape Town.
Today, to mark our one year in government, we held a press conference to report back to the people of South Africa on the progress we’ve made in our metros.
See the reactions below:
https://twitter.com/_Pootie/status/893055990404460544
https://twitter.com/MrsWaphi/status/893050989862715395
https://twitter.com/Nkosi_MTee/status/893051234575405056
https://twitter.com/ChiefMnconywa/status/893059540220030976
https://twitter.com/BenySimo/status/893059187445563392
https://twitter.com/sbbalman/status/893051115029368833
https://twitter.com/firepower66/status/893049728488931328
https://twitter.com/NsQuared_I/status/893049579972825088
https://twitter.com/Preciou85104789/status/893072255118438400
https://twitter.com/vusmuziprince/status/893070314401402880
https://twitter.com/mlotshwaden/status/893095237110964226
https://twitter.com/bruna_giovanni/status/893091631527755776
We know that while much progress has been made, there is still a long way to go. We are committed to doing more and delivering more for every South African who falls under a DA-led government.
See what we’re doing in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town.
Real change is on the way. This is just the beginning!