Addressing the media on Thursday, Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Mr Solly Msimanga, said the City of Tshwane has a target of R5.9 billion in expenditure over the next five years and, R2.3 billion has already been spent.
He was speaking at a press briefing in Pretoria hosted by the National Press Club to report on the 100 days since he took office last August 2016.
In response to whether more money is allocated to developed areas than formerly disadvantaged areas, Msimanga said it is false information and propaganda.
The Tshwane mayor said 65% of the coming year expenditure budget will be given to more service delivery needy areas in Hammanskaal, Ga-rankuwa, Mabopane and Soshanguve.
The Mayor said the city has started with a project of relaying concrete sewer pipes around townships which costs R15-million on every project, and have increased the capacity size of the pipes as the old sewer system used old pipes. He said the focus is where the need is the most which is Ga-Rankuwa at the moment.
“We are also engaging with PRASA to make sure we reopen railway that goes all the way to Hammanskaal, which will connect to Wonderboom Airport as well as the major roads to make transporting of produce easy and manageable in order to stimulate economic activity in the northern part.”
The Mayor said when he took over the city had a deficit of R2.1-billion, however, the preliminary report shows that there is a recovery.
“When the administration took over, the budget was already allocated and we had to provide services based on it. In one year, we have managed to cut expenditure, corruption and made sure money goes where it is supposed to,” Mr Msimanga said.
On the issue of drug abuse, the mayor said he has handed over R4.9-million to a number of Non-Profit Organisations to deal with drug abuse in the city especially in the townships.
Asked why he was not investing in an education drive instead of investing in rehabilitation centers to deal with the problem when people are already addicted, the Mayor said people will criticize even when the City does something good.
He said the city has begun to fight drug abuse by arresting a drug peddlers around the city to approach the problem in a two pronged manner.
“We understand that it is not our expertise to deal with drug abuse so in the past year, we have handed over cheques and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 23 NGOs to help fight the use of drugs,” Msimanga said.
According to the mayor, 1100 users have enrolled in a substance abuse programme by the University of Pretoria and 55% has managed to stay clean and are being monitored every six months.
“No rehabilitation centres were built in the previous year but we are working on plans to build more. We acknowledge it is not easy for the drug users to be isolated in rehabilitation centres but this rehabilitation programme by the UP to rehabilitate people in their communities is a great way to limit relapse.”
On crime, the mayor said a R2-billion investment has gone to the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) to help fight crime and assist the South African Police Service in keeping the city safe. He said the City is working on putting rewards for residences to help with the fight of cable theft as it is costing Tshwane a lot of money.
On average, the city allegedly loses R500-million in cable thefts and 88 arrests have been made and 111 copper cables recovered under the operations of the Tshwane Metro Police Department.
“With the deficit we already had, we did not allow R800-million expenditure on private security, we opted for our own resources which we could use to fight crime and that is why the investment in the TMPD for the 2017/18 budget,” Msimanga said
Tshwane ranked the lowest in the ease of doing business with 688 job opportunities created including permanent and sustainable jobs. The administration has worked on getting rid of by-laws to ensure that the creation of business is fast-tracked.
“We are not there yet but we are getting there. As a capital city, we have to make sure the City is in a standard of national recognition and we must set the example to all of South Africa.
The administration will continue to keep the promises it has made to the people of the city,” Msimanga concluded.
