The City of Johannesburg held the first Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting of the year in Region G at the Finetown Multipurpose Centre in Ennerdale on Saturday, 1 April.
The IDP is a five-year plan that outlines planning and budgeting of the City. The City uses IDP sessions annually to include residents in the decision making of projects and programmes to be conducted in their areas. The Speaker of Council Cllr Colleen Makhubele chaired the session, reminding residents that it was an opportunity to have input into the draft IDP.
“We already had community-based planning meetings within the wards and those sessions were used to raise service delivery issues, social issues and concerns. The IDP session thus represents the analysis of all the issues that were raised. We need you now to tell us what needs to change, what needs to be adjusted and share your inputs on the rates and tariffs,” said Cllr Makhubele.
The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Thapelo Amad, presented the draft IDP in which he highlighted the increased rate of unemployment, especially among the youth at 53.3%. He also mentioned Johannesburg contributes 16% on the national gross domestic product, which is the largest of any city in South Africa. However, 52.5% of the people live below the poverty line.
“The City needs to plan and be prepared for more people looking to move to or in the City. I am not referring to immigrants from across the border. There are people within the country and in different municipalities who move to Johannesburg. We thus have to make sure that our infrastructure does not collapse,” said Cllr Amad.
Amad said that the City also needs to find ways to make more money to be more sustainable in the long run because there aren’t enough houses, water and electricity because the people are getting poorer. “We have a vision for the year 2040. We know Johannesburg grows on a day-to-day basis so we need to plan ahead to achieve goals and be ready,” the mayor said.
He said the City aims to achieve sustainable, liveable communities that are safe, healthy and well connected. Region G doesn’t have a BRT system, which needs to be prioritised for the people to be mobile and have access. In terms of sustainable infrastructure and services, the City aims to be a resilient and resource efficient city that will be able to respond to the future challenges like the climate change.
“We know Region G has also been affected by climate change specifically floods due to being on a downward slope,” Amad shared. He said that the City aimed for equality and fairness in the distribution of resources among communities, which was why it needed the inputs of the residents.The City is working towards alternative energy, better water and sanitation services and infrastructure to uphold services.
It is also exploring growth opportunities along with employment opportunities. “That is why we are here today to take accountability. We have 11 mayoral priorities in total and we need to work towards achieving these priorities. We therefore welcome the inputs of the people regarding the peoples IDP. We are open to hearing about your needs if they are sound, healthy and for the greater good,” Cllr Amad concluded.
Residents raised concerns about crime, loadshedding and the lack of work opportunities in the region.The City’s leadership promised to address some of the concerns raised by residents.
