Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg has embarked on a new journey with the swearing in of the city’s new mayoral committee, and a stern warning to slackers from the newly elected mayor, Thapelo Amad.
On Monday, the mayoral committee was sworn in with the ANC getting five MMC positions, the EFF two, the PA two, and the ATM one. The committee was sworn in by a regional judge and was expected to start working this week.
In a message to the new mayoral committee, Amad said he was delighted that it was composed of men and women from different political parties. He said the arrangement was a true reflection of a government of local unity where all the interests of the residents of Johannesburg would be represented.
"I stand in front of you today on this auspicious occasion, the swearing in of the new mayoral committee of the City of Johannesburg. This is a truly inclusive government that represents a government of local unity; we have a responsibility to work together to better the lives of our people and communities," Amad said.
Amad said his vision was for a city that could provide basic services to residents without causing any disruptions. He outlined a number of areas that his government would focus on; these included delivering basic services, ensuring that the administration of the city was effective, creating opportunities for all who lived in Johannesburg, ensuring their safety, and combating crime and corruption.
"We must fix our roads; we must cut the grass along our roads and streets regularly. We must fix potholes; as the government, we want you to drive on proper roads, and we will close the gap in 100 days," he promised.
Amad said he wanted more active engagement between municipal leaders and residents. He said this would ensure that residents were up to speed with what was happening in terms of development and opportunities around them.
"An active engagement citizenry would require competent and inspirational leadership at the city level as it would involve organisational culture change and continue citizen interaction, civic education, and empowerment."
Amad said he had been briefed by Johannesburg Water about the water problems that the municipality had been facing. He said he was satisfied that the problem was being dealt with and that most areas in Johannesburg had water supplies.
The Speaker of Council, Colleen Makhubele, is expected to call a council meeting soon where the municipality will approve an R2 billion loan from the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA). The loan would allow the municipality to pay service providers and carry out other important functions.
The Star