When premier Panyaza Lesufi takes to the stage for his first ttate of the province (Sopa) address on Monday evening, he will be tempted to announce grand plans to tackle corruption, infrastructure decay and job creation. But he should focus on getting the basics right, writes Bongani Baloyi.
These may include using the existing expanded public works programme to provide work opportunities to more people, especially young people, to help fix the potholes in our roads, clear public spaces and improve service delivery which will ultimately lead to increased private investment which will create jobs.Despite repeated promises by President Cyril Ramaphosa, it does not appear that there will be any end to load-shedding any time soon.
This is despite the province introducing a provincial ethics body in 2017, and launching a provincial anti-corruption plan in 2016. The provincial procurement process should be opened for oversight by showing all provincial tenders on a public platform and revealing the outcome of each tender awarded. Lesufi can help limit the extent of corruption and improve accountability.The release of the recent crime statistics shows that crime is out of control in South Africa, leaving the most vulnerable to fend for themselves in crime-ridden communities.
Meanwhile, thieves continue to carry away our essential economic infrastructure such as railways, robots and electricity lines. I propose the province convert the existing e-tolls infrastructure into traffic cameras to help improve policing oversight on the freeways, as well as provide an additional income source to municipalities who can issue traffic fines using the traffic cameras fitted onto the gantries.
Meanwhile, the R85m Mayibuye Primary School in Thembisa, completed in 2021, has been abandoned and the R11bn Montrose Mega City development in West Rand district municipality, launched in 2017, has been left incomplete. These are just some of the several incomplete and abandoned provincial infrastructure projects littered across Gauteng.
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