“Our people have lost confidence in what we say. They think we talk too much and do less.”
This was said by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi as he was delivering his first State of The Province Address (SOPA) on Monday (20 February).
Lesufi said if he had a choice, he would not deliver this SOPA but instead he would have taken the public to different sites in Gauteng to showcase the work they have done.
“Let me assure you, we will talk less and do,” he said.
Speaking on Crime the Premier said in Mzansi said they survive not because of protection from law enforcement agencies, but by the grace of God.
He said Gauteng is home to heartless and merciless criminals, as they do as they wish, and if this situation is left unattended it will be the end of everyone.
“So, the issue of fighting crime should be our apex priority. We should unleash all our resources at our disposal to tackle crime. To this end, we are increasing our budget of fighting crime from R750 million to multi-billion in the next three years,” he said.
He added that starting from the 1st of April 2023, they will start to connect suburbs, townships, business districts, schools and other public places with high-tech, face, and car recognition CCTVs.
Addressing the energy crisis Lesufi said it remains one of the biggest challenges to their accelerated economic recovery.
He said Gauteng Province's electricity deficit is focused at 4058 mega volt-amper mps (MVA) in 2025 this is slightly to be highly given Eskom's inability to generate more from its current fleet.
“As Gauteng, we have been working on finding solutions to the energy crisis. We have established an energy crisis response team that engages with the National Energy Committee and works with local government and energy experts,” he said
He said to set the ball rolling, as the Gauteng Provincial Government they are releasing R1.2 billion towards resolving the energy crisis in Gauteng.
“In a few weeks, we will appoint six developers who will commence the construction of an 800 megawatts solar farm in Merafong. This will be followed by the installation of rooftop solar panels in government buildings especially hospitals, clinics and schools,” he said.
Speaking on local government Lesufi said collectively, all local government municipalities in Gauteng owe Eskom R8.6 billion.
He said of this R6 billion is owed by Emfuleni Municipality alone.
“We must intervene to assist Emfuleni, a municipality that has great potential recently, we led a delegation to meet with the officials and stakeholders of Emfuleni, and Eskom management. Working together with the municipality, we are developing tangible programmes to assist this municipality with its challenges by appointing a capable Municipal Manager and Chief Financial Officer,” he said
he added that a municipality that is worrying is the City of Tshwane, which has deteriorated, is struggling to pay Eskom and the latest Auditor General report has painted a bleak picture of a collapsing municipality.
“We will intervene in that municipality as a matter of urgency,” he said.
You must be SIGNED IN to read comments
Speaking on the health system in the Province, Lesufi said the public health system in Gauteng is the largest and most significant in South Africa.
“We strongly believe that the challenges of distribution of medication, queue management, file management and medico-legal will be minimised if we invest in the digitisation of our health facilities,” he said.
Lesufi also touched on climate change, improving public schools, refurbishing hostels in the province and also issuing funding and loans for those who want to start their own tuck-shops and backyard rental.
He added that they plan to assist communities with free data and supply learners who come from struggling homes with dignity packs.
