Johannesburg - The mayor of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, will today deliver his first State of the City Address (SOCA) since his appointment as the city's number one citizen.
The Johannesburg Municipal Council chambers are expected to be full to capacity with guests and politicians who will be attending to hear Gwamanda’s vision for the City of Johannesburg.
A strong police contingent is expected in the Metro Centre to ensure that there are no violent protests or potential threats to the State of the City programme.
Gwamanda is expected to focus on the priorities that the Government of Local Unity, which he leads, has set out. This includes a more people-centred approach to service delivery, rebuilding confidence in the administration, and fixing the municipality’s financial crisis.
Different political parties have also expressed their expectations of the SOCA. Lloyd Phillips from the Good Party said: ‘’The residents of Johannesburg need to hear an urgent plan of action to address the ever-increasing service delivery failures, which have left many feeling hopeless.’’
Phillips said the Executive Mayor would deliver his first Johannesburg State of the City Address at a time when service delivery has crumbled under the pressure of instability in the city.
‘’This has seen municipally-owned entities (MOEs) such as City Power, Pikitup, and Joburg Water failing to deliver even the most basic services expected by the ratepayers,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, ActionSA said it did not believe in Gwamanda’s leadership. The party’s caucus leader, Funzi Ngobeni, said he would be paying special attention to the SOCA.
‘’ActionSA, a party committed to ethical leadership, remains committed to the residents of Johannesburg, and that is why we are demanding accountability. Johannesburg is simply too important to allow the ANC-EFF and Mayor Gwamanda to get away with theatrics and possible criminality,’’ Ngobeni said.
In a press briefing held on Monday, the Speaker of Council, Colleen Makhubele, said the mayor would emphasise plans, programmes, and a turnaround strategy to get Joburg moving in the right direction. Makhubele said she and the GLU coalition members had confidence that Gwamanda would lead the city in a deserving manner.
The Star