Executive Summary Annual Performance Report for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. by CITY OF JOHANNESBURG JOBURG

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every summit that we climb leads to a realisation that there are many more summits yet to ascend.â&#x20AC;? Nelson Mandela

2011/2012 Performance Highlights

City of Johannesburg Building on a legacy of success.

City of Johannesburg Building on a legacy of success Executive Summary Annual Performance Report for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012

We commit ourselves to embracing the important position of our city on the African continent; that we are a city that embraces its African identity and represents the spontaneity and vibrancy of our

diverse cities across this continent. Executive Mayor, Councillor Mpho Parks Tau

Johannesburg is the most advanced commercial city in Africa and the engine-room of the South African and regional economy. It is a city with a unique, African character. A city-on-the-move with world-class infrastructure in the fields of telecommunications, transportation, water and power and with globally competitive health care and educational facilities. It is also a city of contrasts – home to both wealthy and poor; residents and refugees; global corporations and emerging enterprises. True to its mining roots it is a city that continues to attract new people, constantly in search of a better life and a place to settle, to live, to learn and to earn. Johannesburg is home to a population of approximately four million people, growing at a rate of 1.3% per annum. This population growth is largely driven by net migration into the city from provinces and towns in the rest of South Africa. There are about 1.4 million households with an average household size of about three persons. The City of Johannesburg reports back to its residents and stakeholders on an annual basis. This report reflects the entire spectrum of the City’s activities – its achievements and successes, but also its challenges and the actions designed to overcome them. It chronicles the activities of a critical year in Johannesburg’s recent history and identifies opportunities for future actions. Through the Annual Report the City meets the legislative requirements set out in the Municipal Finance Act and the Municipal Systems Act. It ensures that there is regular, impartial feedback to all stakeholders, thus strengthening accountability and transparency. The 2011/12 Annual Report covers the performance of the City of Johannesburg for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. “… the time has come for the City to build on the foundation that I have outlined to change the City’s course.”

Overview: The 2011/12 financial year was a defining year for the City of Johannesburg during which it was able to build on the legacy of success laid down by the previous administration. The local government elections held in May 2011 heralded in a period of transition to a new elected leadership, bolstered by the experience gained during the first phase of democratic local governance in the city. This continuity in leadership and vision enabled the City to start building on the legacy of the previous 10 years without any delays, to accelerate a number of initiatives that were already in the pipeline and to commence a number of ground-breaking new initiatives that will become the hallmark of the five-year term of the new administration. A solid foundation was laid. The time was opportune to build on these achievements and to take Johannesburg to a higher level.

• The process to create a unified City governance model was completed. More than a century of spatial planning designed to entrench privilege and inequality is being turned around in favour of an equitable and united city with equal access to facilities, infrastructure and economic opportunities. • The City’s finances were stabilised in the midst of the most severe global recession in decades. Joburg led the country in terms of the quality of its financial reporting, moving from a qualified audit position to a report without qualifications. • The coverage of residents receiving basic services was significantly extended, with almost 95% of Johannesburgers now receiving quality water, reliable electricity and decent sanitation. • The inner city of Johannesburg was revitalised in partnership with the private sector and civil society. Through strong action taken against urban crime and decay the city has significantly improved the quality of the urban environment, reduced crime levels and created a strong basis on which to attract new investments. • The City pioneered the concept of Municipal Bonds, receiving an overwhelming positive response from the investment community to successive issuances. • Johannesburg has acquired a global reputation as a desirable destination for trade, tourism and investment and a proud and successful host of major events such as the 2010 FIFA™ World Cup, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and a range of events on the global sporting and cultural calendars. • The City established an exemplary record of efficient and accountable administration with strong participation by communities in the decision-making process. • Imaginative steps were taken to create a sustainable environment through a “greening of the city campaign”, the planting of more than 200 000 new trees, providing grass to dusty sports fields and public spaces and the introduction of the concept of Xtreme Park Makeovers. • The City launched and completed key flagship projects such as the Nelson Mandela Bridge, Constitution Hill, Newtown and the Brickfields Housing development. These projects now define the landscape and skyline of the modern new city. • The City led the way in the provision of mixed housing developments, such as Cosmo City and Lufhereng. • South Africa’s first Bus Rapid Transit System – Rea Vaya – was introduced to provide residents with safe, fast and affordable choices of transport. A number of significant events that occurred during the preceding five years had an impact on Joburg’s financial position in the 2011/12 year: • the need to meet national delivery targets and provide adequate infrastructure for the City’s hosting of the 2012 FIFA™ World Cup placed additional demands on expenditure; • the global economic downturn had an impact on economic activity across all sectors and affected the ability of customers to pay for City services; • Joburg’s migration to a new, unified billing system encountered implementation problems in its early stages. However, the City of Joburg maintained a strong and robust financial position. This healthy situation was achieved through a strong political commitment to keep the City’s finances on track; a concerted focus on financial management; and a commitment to innovation and increased efficiencies in the City’s operations. At the conclusion of the financial year Joburg maintained a healthy cash surplus and was able to meet all of its short-term operating liabilities on an ongoing basis.

In its comprehensive report on the City’s annual financial statement, the Office of the Auditor General identifies key issues that need to be addressed and make vital recommendations. Joburg is committed to attend to the issues that were raised and ensure its management of the City’s financial affairs meet the highest standards. “We will be a sustainable, liveable and resilient society by 2040. To achieve all of this, we need a strong partnership across all spheres of government, a partnership with organisations of civil society, with business and local communities.”

A fresh mandate from the people of Johannesburg In May 2011, voters across South Africa went to polling stations to participate in the country’s third democratic local governance elections. Voters in Johannesburg returned the African National Congress with a fresh mandate to implement its electoral mandate in South Africa’s premier city. In his acceptance speech in the City Council on 26 May 2011, the newly elected Executive Mayor, Councillor Mpho Parks Tau, called on residents to unite behind a common vision of accelerated growth for the City. “Joburg deserves only the best efforts from everybody, whether they are in the political leadership, in management, in all positions within our administration and across the spectrum of our partners in business, labour, the faith-based community and civil society.

Executive Mayor of the City of Joburg, Mpho Parks Tau

“Joburg is the largest and most diverse city in the country and as the economic and cultural hub of our country, it plays a pivotal role in the direction our nation will grow in the future,” Mayor Tau said. With a clear mandate from the people of Johannesburg, the elected leadership, led by a dynamic new Executive Mayor and Mayoral Committee, set out to build on the legacy of success achieved during the previous terms of office. The City of Joburg immediately introduced three major initiatives that defined and dominated the delivery agenda during the 2011/12 financial year. • It initiated a city-wide consultative process to review its long-term priorities, strategies, perspectives and plans – culminating in the launch of the Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy in October 2011. • The City embarked on a comprehensive and thorough redesign of its institutional arrangements to meet the demands of a modern and growing city and to ensure the seamless implementation of the Joburg 2040 GDS. • It launched an accelerated service delivery programme to address particular challenges during the first 90 days of the term of the newly elected administration. This programme of action set the agenda for the City’s activities during the remainder of the 2011/12 financial year through a number of clearly defined focus areas:

• turnaround of the City’s billing system and enhanced revenue collection; • prioritise the call centre to be efficient and achieve improved turnaround times; • address the quality of roads, fix the potholes, repair broken traffic lights and clean out culverts and stormwater drains; • render basic services in informal settlements such as water, sewer, waste removal and electricity; • maintenance of council owned facilities, hostels, housing estates, old age homes, parks and sport and recreation facilities; • improve cleanliness in the city including removing and rehabilitating illegal dumping sites;

City Manager, Trevor Fowler

• extend the Bus Rapid Transit system to ensure that communities have access to safe, affordable and reliable public transport; • ensure effective and efficient by-law enforcement; • improve the quality of interaction with residents and clients in the spirit of Batho Pele; • ensure that management and staff are held accountable for the quality of their service delivery; • focus on fiscal responsibility and high standards of prudent financial management. The achievements of the City during this period of accelerated service delivery were clearly defined and measurable. The short time-frames instilled a sense of urgency in the organisation to achieve the desired outcomes within a brief period. Most of the delivery targets were met and exceeded. One of the priorities entailed addressing service delivery challenges such as deteriorating services and roads infrastructure, and lack of maintenance in hostels. The accelerated programme delivered by upgrading more than 9km of water and sewer networks in Fourways, Orange Farm and Alexandra; repairing more than 6 000 water meters; maintaining 96% of public lighting; patching more than 18 000 potholes; cleaning more than 100km of storm water pipes; and conducting cleaning and repairs at Dube, Diepkloof and Meadowlands hostels. City departments, regions and municipal entities collaborated through an integrated approach to deal with service delivery challenges. This seamless collaboration was most notable in the successful joint operations to improve compliance with by-laws in hotspot areas across all regions. The success of the accelerated drive was duly noted and documented through the positive feedback received from residents and stakeholders, but also through positive news coverage reflected in the media. According to a survey by Media Tenor South Africa, positive media coverage for Joburg improved from 73% in June 2011 to 83% by the end of September. The achievements on the short-term delivery programme indicate that the new mayoral term and political leadership presented the City with an opportunity for renewed energy. It confirmed the principle of “less is more”, focusing on the basics that will make an impact. The City’s leadership, both politically and administratively, acted on the opportunity to turn around the organisational performance culture and approach to service delivery. “…we must act now to ensure Johannesburg, in 2040, will be a world class African city that is resilient, sustainable and liveable.”

Johannesburg 2040 GDS – a promise for the future In his inaugural Budget Speech in June 2011, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Mpho Parks Tau, announced that the City would embark on an inclusive and comprehensive process to develop a revised Growth and Development Strategy to guide development over the next three decades. The Joburg 2040 GDS envisions a Johannesburg that is: • a welcoming city that provides a high quality of life and maximises the human potential of all who live and work in it; • a sustainable city which protects its resources for future generations, and a city that is built to last and offers a healthy, clean and safe environment; • a city with an economy that grows; where anyone can make it; where it is easy to find work and make a living; • a city that listens to its people and that is sensitive to the needs of its residents; • a city that is responsible – and accepts responsibility – for improving the lives of all who live in the city.

An extended process of research, analysis, reflection and stakeholder engagement culminated in the launch of the City’s Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy in October 2011. The GDS is defined as the compass by which the City and all those who work within it will steer themselves to achieve a shared vision: Johannesburg – a world class African city of the future – a vibrant, equitable African city, strengthened through its diversity; a city that provides real quality of life; a city that provides sustainability for all its citizens; a resilient and adaptive society. The Joburg 2040 GDS is an aspirational strategy that defines the type of society the City aspires to achieve over the next three decades. It restates the City’s resolve in confronting the injustices and inequities of the past, working towards a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and just city while continuously resolving present and future challenges as they emerge. “Good governance…underpins everything the City does.”

Public participation The new term of office is characterised by the extensive involvement of citizens in the City’s planning processes. This was highlighted during the outreach process that led to the drafting and adoption of the Joburg 2040 GDS. To ensure a structured implementation of the process, the following approach was adopted: • Thematic weeks – addressed the nine themes identified within this Joburg 2040 Strategy. Thematic weeks included round table discussions and conversations with stakeholders. The general public was invited to comment on the topics and fully participate in the process. • Ward-level participation – this incorporated the voices of local communities and ran parallel to the nine thematic weeks. • A GDS conference – which included the participation of leading global, regional and local experts. This provided a platform to discuss critical issues and establish mechanisms through which they could best be addressed. • Social media – Joburg pioneered the use of online social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to allow citizens to participate in the strategy-making process of a South African city. • Suggestion boxes – The City reached out to its diverse citizenry through suggestion boxes and live participation sessions in neighbourhoods. • A GDS launch – attended by the City’s key stakeholders, serving as the culmination of the outreach process. The broad-based consultative process that led to the adoption of the GDS 2040 confirmed the City’s approach to strengthen community participation in decision making. The document reflects the collective wisdom and aspirations of the diverse spectrum of stakeholders in Johannesburg and gained wide-spread acceptance because of the inclusive nature of the process. This approach is increasingly becoming a defining feature of democratic local governance in Johannesburg and is also evident in the regular IDP processes and the consultations that lead up to the annual mediumterm budgets.

The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) – the blueprint for action This year the City adopted an approach to the IDP and budget consultation process to build on the enthusiasm of the citizens and sustain the momentum of the community-driven strategy formulation process. This ensured that stakeholders and communities engage with the draft 2012-16 IDP and 2012/13 budget and communicate their views and aspirations prior to the approval of plans by Council. A series of regional engagements were held in all seven regions with targeted stakeholders led by the Executive Mayor and the Speaker of Council. “We want to build a City that is fundamentally different from what it was before.”

Institutional review: During the 2011/12 financial year, the City decided to conduct a comprehensive review of existing institutional arrangements and recommend the adoption of an amended model of governance. The iGoli 2002 model comprised new political governance structures, a core administration, 11 regional administrations and 15 utilities or agencies that operated as service delivery agents on behalf of the City. Minor amendments to this model were introduced in 2006. The institutional experience of a decade of democratic local governance, as well as the realities of a dynamic, growing urban environment, prompted the City to undertake a review of its institutional model. A number of design principles and requirements were considered during the review of the city’s organisational structure, such as: • alignment and synergy between the City’s Growth and Development Strategy, its Integrated Development Plan and its organisational design; • strengthened and enhanced interface between the executive and the administration; • objective design options that are not influenced by short-term or incumbent-driven needs; • a stronger role for the members of the Mayoral Committee to oversee the activities of the departments within their portfolios; • greater clarity about the relationship between the City – as the shareholder – and the boards of municipal entities to ensure clear policy direction and priorities for implementation. “… we want to build a high-performing metropolitan government that is responsive and accountable to its residents.”

Organisational management The structure of the City administration comprises core administration departments as well as municipal entities (MEs) that operate as service delivery agents on behalf of the City. Johannesburg’s institutional arrangements have been evolving since the transformation of local government in 1994. The current structure is based on a “unicity” institutional structure, initiated after the December 2000 local government elections Changes to institutional arrangements have always been prompted by the City’s quest to continually enhance service delivery and overall governance and to respond to emerging needs of its communities. The objective of the institutional review was to determine whether the existing models meet the demands of a modern, globally-competitive city. The review investigated areas of duplication, clear lines of accountability, opportunities to harness economies of scale and opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The result was the introduction of a new model of municipal administration that built on the successful experiences of the past but also enables the City to proactively meet the challenges related to a global city. The new institutional design is underpinned by the City’s Performance Management System as the primary mechanism through which organisational and individual performances of employees are improved.

The performance of City officials employed in core departments and municipal entities are guided by a comprehensive legislative framework and overseen by a number of key oversight bodies which represent the interest of the residents and stakeholders of Johannesburg. This includes: • The Johannesburg Risk and Assurance Services (JRAS) which play an internal performance auditing role and measure the results achieved by executive management. • The Johannesburg Group Audit Committee (JPAC) – an external body comprised of independent experts and providing impartial recommendations on performance to the Mayoral Committee. • The Executive Mayor and Mayoral Committee which oversees the performances of the executive management and heads of departments. • Council and Section 79 Committees – elected, multi-party representatives who perform an oversight role to measure the performance of the municipality. • Communities – who participate in civic affairs through the annual IDP process and complement the role of elected councillors through ward committees and regional people centres. “…development is not about the delivery of goods to a passive citizenry, but is about active involvement and growing empowerment of communities in the utilisation of resources.”

Ward participation Following the establishment of ward councillors’ offices, a process was started to elect ward committee members to support councillors. Ward committee elections were held in April 2012 and allowed residents an equal opportunity to nominate candidates. Ward committees enhance participatory democracy and are established in terms of the requirements of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act. Residents and stakeholders will increasingly gain a greater say in determining priorities within their own wards and living areas and ward-based planning will strengthen citizen-participation in the decision-making processes. The City is currently in the process of rolling out 130 ward plans. The main objectives of these plans are: • • • •

to deepen local democracy; to enhance developmental planning at ward level; to empower councillors and communities, generate ideas and participate meaningfully in decision making; to contribute to a more equitable and spatially integrated City.

The City’s comprehensive communication strategy highlights the importance of communication with all stakeholders and to inform citizens on progress made in service delivery. The objectives of the City’s communications strategy during 2011/12 were: • • • • • •

a strong focus on positive news about progress in Johannesburg as an important “newsmaker”; a creative mixture of formats – media briefings, statements, site visits, thought leadership; an emphasis on visual elements for photo opportunities and television; internal communication to coincide with external communication; greater utilisation of social media and the CoJ website; direct communication to communities/the ward and street level through imbizos and community media.

The 2010 Customer Survey Satisfaction Index for communication efficiency shows a consistent improvement since 2006. In promoting Johannesburg as a world class African city, the key achievements for the 2010/11 period included sustaining marketing campaigns to promote a positive image of the CoJ to local and international stakeholders; coordinating exhibitions and displays to market the City during the Joburg Easter Festival; and posting key messages on billboards with marketing messages.

Public consultation and outreach process The City of Johannesburg recognises that development is not about the delivery of goods to a passive citizenry, but is about active involvement and growing empowerment of communities in the utilisation of resources. A series of meetings were held during the year in all seven regions involving various stakeholders, including women’s groups, people with disabilities, the business sector, civil society and the youth. A number of submissions were received from communities and stakeholders and these have been factored into the final budget and revised IDP in line with the Joburg 2040 Strategy outcomes. “In taking these next steps, we need to build credibility with our stakeholders and demonstrate that we care about their needs. The City has the responsibility to focus on “lifting the bar” and taking service delivery to the next level and improve operational efficiencies. … the City needs to allocate and utilise its resources in the most efficient manner possible to achieve its strategic objectives, as well as fulfill the requirements of transparency and accountability. This requires consensus on how to realise this vision.”

Governance model and structures The City of Johannesburg’s Governance structure is based on the principles of the separation of powers and consists of an elected legislature presided over by the Speaker of Council and an executive consisting of an elected Executive Mayor chairing a Mayoral Committee. The administrative arm is led by the City Manager supported by heads of departments and municipal entities that are accountable to both Council and the Mayoral Committee. The objectives of a municipality, as defined in Section 152 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa are: • • • • •

to provide democratic and accountable government for local communities; to ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner; to promote social and economic development; to promote and safe and healthy environment; and to encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government.

In the legislature the oversight functions are exercised through the activities of Section 79 Committees. City departments submit quarterly progress reports to these committees which are then discussed and submitted to Council. Individual councillors also hold the executive to account and can introduce motions to ensure debate on critical issues. The Speaker of Council is the head of the legislative arm and presides over meetings of councils. The Speaker’s functions are supported by the Chair of Committees, the Chief Whip of Council and the chairpersons of the Section 79 Committees. The Executive Mayor is accountable for the strategic direction of the City and takes political responsibility for policies and the implementation of programmes and initiatives. He is also responsible for the identification and prioritisation of community needs, drafting strategies to address such needs and oversee the delivery of the City’s services and programmes. In Johannesburg the Executive Mayor is assisted by a Mayoral Committee comprising ten members with executive responsibility for departments and entities, namely: Corporate and Shared Services; Housing; Environment, Infrastructure and Services; Transport; Development Planning; Community Development; Health and Social Development; Finance; Economic Development; and Public Safety.

To strengthen governance structures and promote better coordination and accountability, the City, in the 2011/12 financial year, established Mayoral sub-committees on service delivery. These sub-committees are responsible for: sustainable services; economic growth; human and social development and good governance and their primary functions are to: • • • •

identify priority multi-sectoral programmes for implementation; ensure coordination and alignment of service delivery; provide guidance and oversight in the implementation of programmes; and discuss reports from the administration and departments and make recommendations to the Mayoral Committee.

The City Manager is the head of the administration and accounting officer for the City of Joburg. As the chief executive his role is to lead, direct and manage the administration of the City and is primarily responsible for: • the formation and development of an effective and accountable administration; • the management of service delivery in the city; • the management of the relationship between the legislature, the executive and the administration and the implementation of decisions taken by elected representatives; • responsibility and accountability for all income, expenditure, functions and activities of the municipality. “We strive to be an organisation whose core business is service excellence in partnership with its stakeholders towards the realisation of our strategic objectives.”

Service delivery achievements During the 2011/12 financial year Joburg introduced a new cluster approach to municipal governance. The City’s departments and entities are organised into four clusters – devoted to economic growth, governance, human and social development and sustainable services. The implementation of the accelerated service delivery programme in the first quarter of the financial year set the agenda for the City of Joburg’s performance during the remainder of the period. Among the outstanding achievements of the past year are: Improved access and quality of public services The City upgraded water and sewer networks in a number of areas including Fourways, Orange Farm and Alexandra; repaired more than 6 000 water meters; maintained 96% of public lighting and cleaned more than 100km of stormwater pipes. The electrification of households exceeded the 5 000 annual target, while more than 1 000 sanitation services were upgraded to higher levels. Building safer communities Public safety was enhanced through the installation of over 4 000 street lights in priority areas. This complemented the implementation of the City Safety Strategy and Crime Prevention Programme, which contributed to the reduction in the levels of priority crimes within Johannesburg. The safety of communities were strengthened through disaster management initiatives that included disaster risk assessments, the development of mitigation measures and the empowerment of communities in informal settlements, where there are high risks of fires and other disasters. The communities of Denver, Zandspruit, George Goch, Alexandra, Alexandra Women Hostel and Slovoville were prioritised in this financial year.

Rolling out broadband infrastructure Johannesburg is leading the country with the roll-out of modern IT infrastructure designed to significantly reduce the cost of doing business within the city, but also to bridge the digital divide and provide communities, schools, hospitals and households with improved access to information.

Ensuring healthy communities More than 3.2 million patients received free diagnosis, treatment and care at the 80 primary health care facilities situated in Johannesburg. Almost every child under the age of one year has been immunised against preventable diseases and the Jozi Ihlomile initiative is serving as a model for community-based treatment for HIV/Aids across the country. Caring for the mind and the soul The cultural experiences of Johannesburg residents were enriched with the opening of the ultra-modern Soweto Theatre – a 2010 FIFA™ World Cup legacy project – and the reopening of the Johannesburg Library as a centre of excellence and learning. Reshaping transport options The City’s flagship project – the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit network – is providing more than 42 000 passengers with a safe, fast and affordable transport alternative every day. Through ongoing improvements to road and transport infrastructure, the City is supporting economic growth and development and improving the quality of life of residents. Specific attention was devoted to road safety, especially following the tragic deaths of children in areas such as Waterval Estate (Westbury), Lenasia and Meadowlands Extension 7. Road safety education was conducted and traffic calming measures implemented. “We are now poised to move the City on to a new developmental growth path.”

The economic outlook The City of Johannesburg is a significant role player in the economy of Gauteng and of South Africa as a whole. While budgets and strategies are focused on addressing Johannesburg’s developmental challenges, the City is cognisant of the impact of a stagnant global economy on Johannesburg. South Africa’s robust financial institutions, as well as its relatively moderate fiscal and external debt, allowed fiscal flexibility to withstand the impact of the global downturn to a large degree. However, with the Eurozone being South Africa’s largest trading partner, the prevailing financial pressures on the continent have reduced demand for the country’s goods, impacting negatively on national exports and ultimately the trade balance, resulting in increasing uncertainty. With the South African economy intrinsically linked to the business, manufacturing and financial activities of Johannesburg, the impact of a struggling global economy is being felt locally and reflected in the following: • The current household debt to disposable income in Johannesburg is 75%. • Slow growth in employment as reflected by the unemployment rate in Johannesburg of 24.5%, especially amongst the youth. • 50% of households in Gauteng earn less than R4 000 per month, which reflects the vulnerability of the lower/middle income groups in Johannesburg. • The rising cost of fuel has a ripple effect on a number of commodities and this results in consumers having less money to spend on household goods and services. • Real house prices have declined for four consecutive years since 2008 and this may impact the City’s rates base in future. Johannesburg’s ability to proactively create a better life for the poor depends primarily on sustainable economic growth and the distribution of the benefits of such growth. The global economic turndown since 2006 has affected the city’s economic growth as indicated in the graph below. Towards 2014 the Gross Domestic Product is anticipated to grow positively at a projected average rate of above 3% per annum as the city’s economy recovers with the rest of the world.

Growth in GDP in Johannesburg since 2005

GDP-R Total Growth

GP – City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

6.0%

Source: Global Insight, 2010

6.31%

7.0%

5.49% 4.87%

5.0%

4.14%

4.0% 2.58%

3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% -1.0%

2005

2006

2007

2008

-2.0%

2009

2010

-1.73%

-3.0%

Healthy state of finances and credit strength The past five financial years were characterised by a number of significant events that had an impact on the financial position of Johannesburg: • The City’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA™ World Cup which placed additional demands on expenditure – especially with regards to infrastructure – to meet national delivery targets. • The global recession and its impact on customer payment levels. • The migration to a unified billing system which has resulted in ongoing implementation problems. The cumulative impact of these factors resulted in a declined liquidity position. However, the City of Joburg maintained a strong and robust financial position at the end of the financial year with a cash surplus at a level where the City is able to meet all of its short-term operating liabilities on an ongoing basis. This healthy situation was achieved through a strong political commitment to keep the City’s finances on track; a keen and dedicated focus on finance; a commitment to innovation and increased efficiencies in the City’s operations. The cash position of the City, which is currently above R2 billion, improved significantly in the first and second quarters of the financial year. This can be primarily attributed to improved levels in the collection of revenue following the introduction of the Revenue Step Change in November 2011. The improvement in the collection levels has positively impacted the cash management strategies of the City.

By the end of the first quarter of the 2011/12 financial year, the City had only issued R1.1 billion commercial paper compared to paper to the value of R2.7 billion issued in September 2010. Despite the reduced utilisation of bridging facilities, the City succeeded in maintaining higher cash balances than in the previous year. Johannesburg’s debt profile is in line with the annual funding plans approved by Council. The total longterm debt is R12.023 billion – comprised of R7.451 billion bond issuance and R4.57 billion long-term loans. Following a period of intensive investment in capital infrastructure the City took a strategic decision to limit external borrowings to an annual maximum of R1 billion. Johannesburg is proud of the fact that it has never defaulted on any of its obligations and anticipates that, going forward, it will continue to ensure that all its obligations are met timeously. The City’s achievements in a fragile global economic environment were recognised by ratings agency, Moody’s, in its recent short-term assessment of Johannesburg. In its report the ratings agency noted: “Although Joburg’s liquidity remains tight… the City’s cash reserves adequately cover short-term obligations, thus supporting the high short-term rating assigned.” It further stated that the rating reflected “recent improvements in the City’s liquidity profile and cash position.” Compared to its national peers, the City of Joburg is rated in the mid-range of the six Moody’s-rated South African metropolitan municipalities, whose ratings span from Aa2.za to A1.za. Johannesburg’s relative position reflects debt levels that are still high compared to its national peers, although this is expected to fall gradually in the medium term. The City remains committed to the prudent management of Johannesburg’s finances, focusing on strengthening its balance sheet; tightening of credit policies and continued improvement in revenue collection strategies. In recent years the City’s economy has been dominated by the tertiary and secondary sectors – most notably financial and business services; retail and wholesale trade; community and social services and manufacturing. Johannesburg’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA™ World Cup led to a counter-cyclical period of growth in the construction sector at a time when the global economic downturn was at its worst, but this has since subsided. The contraction in the global and national economy came at a time when Johannesburg was already experiencing sustained levels of high unemployment and continued inequities in the geographic and racial distribution of work and wealth opportunities. The official unemployment figure for 2010 was indicated at 23.1 % – reflecting the global economic recession and the after-effects of lower construction activity following the 2010 FIFA™ World Cup.

Improving the customer experience The Revenue Step Change programme was launched in November 2011 to introduce a customer-centric approach to service delivery and address some frustrating challenges faced by customers with regards to billing queries. Shortly after its introduction, the Revenue Step Change programme started to yield positive results as far as the distribution and quality of statements was concerned. In introducing the Revenue Step Change, the City made a commitment to improve responsiveness to customers.

Among the objectives of the programme were: • • • • • •

to maintain and continue a sustainable revenue model for Johannesburg; to collect revenue from all customers and maintain the current growth in revenue collection; to reduce waiting and response times in the City’s call centres and customer service centres; to raise service standards and improve the customer’s experience when interacting with the City; to improve turnaround times for query resolutions; and to train staff members and monitor improved standards of performance.

The first phase of the Step Change involved the resolution of backlogs in customer queries, the development of new standard operating procedures and the training of staff to ensure a more customer-centric approach in dealing with the public. During the second phase, the City will focus on longer-term systemic issues involving people, processes and systems. Although the original objective was to complete the project by the end of 2013, current estimates indicate that it might take longer to achieve. “Like any public sector business, the City needs to allocate and utilise its resources in the most efficient manner possible to achieve its strategic objectives as well as fulfil the requirements of transparency and accountability.”

Economic growth and development cluster The vision for economic growth for the City of Joburg is “an economy that is inclusive, liveable and prosperous for all”. This vision is informed by the National Development Plan & Vision 2030; The New Growth Path; The Gauteng Economic Growth and Development Strategy; The Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP); the Gauteng City-Region Concept; and the macro-economic strategy of South Africa. The long-term outcome for the cluster is an inclusive, job-intensive, resilient and competitive economy – as reflected in Outcome 3 of the GDS. The economic growth cluster comprises of the Department of Economic Development and its entities, namely: Joburg Property Company (JPC), Metro Trading Company (MTC), and the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market. The Department of Economic Development is the command centre for economic growth in the City, working proactively and collaborating with other key stakeholders such as the private sector, civil society, other city departments and municipal entities and other spheres of government. It capitalises on the City’s own economic levers, such as City-owned assets and other indirect instruments, to leverage and stimulate both local and foreign investment. The department delivers on its mandate by actively intervening in the City’s economy to create an environment conducive to accelerated local economic growth that is sustainable and the benefits and opportunities of which are equitably spread to all its citizens. The Joburg Market is the biggest fresh produce market in the world in terms of volumes traded. Its annual turnover is about R2.8 billion with some 40 000 people visiting the market on a busy day. Its quest is to deliver world-class market services to the citizens of Johannesburg and its broader client base. This includes nourishment on a daily basis through the provision of suitable quantities and qualities of fresh produce. The Johannesburg Property Company has a primary objective to develop and manage Council-owned properties and maximise social and commercial opportunities for the Council in the short and longer term. The company’s main functions include property development and asset management services. The City’s immovable property portfolio, managed by JPC, is estimated at approximately R9 billion and also includes 39 000 hectares of land with a municipal value of R14.8 billion. The Metropolitan Trading Company is responsible for organising and managing trading facilities that accommodate about 5 000 informal traders, as well as maintaining taxi ranks throughout the City. These facilities aim to provide safe and good quality services to both commuters and consumers.

Trade and investment The City facilitated investment into the Soweto Empowerment Zone and secured approvals for the implementation of the Buy, Sell, Invest and Visit Joburg campaign which will position Johannesburg as a destination of choice for trade and investment, as well as a launch-pad into the African continent as the new growth territory for global corporations.

Spatial economic development To develop marginalised areas by addressing socioeconomic disparities, the City facilitated the development of a retail node in the Deep South. Engagements were undertaken with the National Treasury to access the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG) to establish an automobile park in Alexandra as well as the industrial park in Ivory Park, which are expected to yield fruit in the 2012/13 financial year.

Small- medium- and macro enterprises The City has prioritised skills development as a driver for the competitiveness of Johannesburg. To address the gap between skills supply and those that are required by the City’s economy, a number of school leavers were placed into strategic companies to secure the requisite experience. Similarly, 90 cooperatives were assisted through workshop programmes and registration on the supplier database. Several other initiatives which were geared to developing skills within the City’s economy were implemented, including learnerships, training and capacity development programmes.

Broadband infrastructure The City successfully rolled out 750km of broadband optic fibre. When operational in the 2013/14 financial year, this will help to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor and lower the cost of doing business in Johannesburg through the provision of world-class IT services.

Inner-city regeneration Progress was made in the development of a social housing complex – the O‘Reilly Development – in Cityowned land parcels in Berea. The development plan was approved and the process to construct 48 social housing units will commence in the first quarter of the new financial year. More than R628 million worth of investment was attracted into the inner city through the Urban Development Zone tax incentives.

Job creation The creation of new job opportunities through the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) has progressed steadily, with a total of 35 149 new work opportunities being created. The Skills Hub was launched and the details of more than 300 youths were uploaded on the Labour Market Information Database. The department designed a learner training programme in collaboration with the private sector that will ensure the placement of young people in the ICT and construction industries. “Today we can say with much confidence that our institution and entities are much stronger and our financial position is sound.” “…we are making steady progress in improving customer interface, in strengthening our revenue collection service and restoring confidence in the integrity of our billing system.”

Governance cluster The governance cluster enables the City of Joburg to be “a responsive, accountable, efficient and productive metropolitan government”.

During the past year, its focus was directed towards the development of the Growth and Development Strategy (Joburg 2040), the five-year IDP, frameworks, guidelines and protocols. In the coming years it will be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of these strategies, frameworks, guidelines and protocols. Outcome 4 of the 2040 GDS envisages Johannesburg as “a leading metropolitan government that proactively contributes to build a sustainable, socially inclusive, locally integrated and globally competitive Gauteng City Region.”

Key achievements By the end of May 2012, the City had spent about 65% (R2 423 920) of the approved, revised capital budget for the financial year. Projected spend by the end of the year is 95% of the total of R3 749 203 000. The Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) spending was at R673.2 million, representing 92.7% spend of the grant budget. The actual year to date direct revenue is under budget by R397.8 million (1%) and the actual direct operating expenditure is under budget by R820.2 million (3%) at the end of May 2012. The net effect resulted in an operating surplus of R1.9 billion against a budgeted surplus of R1.6 billion. Financial sustainability is at the core of realising the long-term GDS goals of the City. To achieve this, the City has adopted innovative mechanisms to ensure stable, sustainable and resilient finances. The financial sustainability sub-programme ensures that, before tackling the long-term objectives of sustainability, the City first addresses current challenges with the intention of sustaining prudential ratios for a favourably rated organisation. Council approved a revised Capital Budget for an amount of R3 749 203 000, with R1 843 773 000 relating to the municipal entities and R1 905 430 000 to the core administration. A policy framework was concluded to accelerate Johannesburg’s deliverables in the reduction of carbon emissions, sustainable infrastructure and a green economy. The Roadmap for Revenue and Billing was launched in November 2011 to resolve billing queries from customers and wipe out the backlog of outstanding queries. The City committed itself to a customer-centric approach to dealing with the public at offices and call centres. The Roadmap sets out clearly defined objectives and milestones to be achieved over a period of 19 months. Several initiatives were undertaken by the City to improve billing data integrity, including meter audits and customer open days. A new number for the City’s call centre was introduced – 0860 JOBURG (or 0860 562874). This new city-wide number is easy to remember and makes use of improved technology, which is more stable and is not bound to any one location. By the end of the financial year the City received 15 000 billing queries per month which were resolved within 30 days. Ninety-two percent of the back-logged queries that were ring-fenced in November 2011 were resolved. Specialised backlog-clearing teams were deployed to call centres and regional customer service centres to provide additional capacity for the resolution of current queries. This will lead to further improvements in overall service delivery to customers. A five-year Integrated Development Plan 2012-2016 was approved by Council following a comprehensive process of community and stakeholder consultation. All business plans of departments and municipal entities were also approved by Council in June 2012. Johannesburg strengthened its strategic position in the international environment with the approval of an African Agenda and a BRICS Agenda to define its relationship within South Africa’s partnerships with Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Draft strategies for human capital management and performance management were concluded and await approval during the 2012/13 financial year. ”We will build a safe, secure and resilient City that protects, serves, and empowers communities.”

Human and social development cluster The human and social development cluster takes the strategic and practical lead on the City’s constitutional mandate to promote the social development and upliftment of its residents. It is primarily responsible for Outcome 1 as defined in the Joburg 2040 GDS – “improved quality of life and development-driven resilience for all.” It takes a long-term view of human development in Johannesburg and set itself 30-year goals to: • transform the poorest communities, reducing inequalities by addressing imbalances in access to income and economic opportunity, access to social infrastructure and access to services; • provide a robust and sustainable safety net that uplifts the working-age and able-bodied to self-sufficiency while enabling a basic level of care for the vulnerable; • raise the level of social cohesion across the city decade-on-decade; • improve the total health profile of the city; and • improve the total public safety profile of the city. During the past year, the City achieved measurable results in its programmes to improve social, health and safety conditions city-wide; retained a targeted focus on the elimination of poverty and deprivation; promote social inclusion and capacity-building among residents themselves to eliminate long-standing problems and handle new shocks. The City’s Health Department is responsible for the delivery of primary healthcare services to Johannesburg’s growing population. More than 3.2 million patients walked through the doors of the 80 primary healthcare facilities in Johannesburg during the past year to receive free diagnosis, treatment, counselling and care from the City’s trained clinicians and highly qualified nursing staff. Johannesburg’s Jozi Ihlomile campaign is widely recognised for its ability to mobilise public participation and improve health outcomes in communities. Initially designed to spearhead Johannesburg’s HIV/Aids programme, this door-to-door campaign has been broadened to achieve broader health and social objectives. Community-based volunteers are trained by the City and then visit each household in their area to provide information on HIV and Aids. During visits the volunteers also detect and report back to the department on other health and social-welfare related issues and assist families with information on available government services. Almost all children under the age of 12 months are receiving immunisation against preventable diseases and the TB cure rate in Johannesburg has improved from 56% in 2002 to 82% in the past financial year. Effective management and preventative measures ensured that there were no outbreaks of communicable diseases during this period. The City’s Vulnerable Groups Support Programme continued with initiatives to provide sustenance to orphans, child-headed households and the elderly and assisted with food security to 4 757 households. All qualifying Early-childhood Development Centres in Johannesburg now benefit from rebates on rates while 843 ECD practitioners and 100 day-mothers received training through City programmes to upgrade their skills. The Soweto Theatre was opened by the Executive Mayor, Councillor Mpho Parks Tau on 25 May, 2012 – Africa Day. The world-class theatre complex is one of the legacy projects flowing from Johannesburg’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA™ Soccer World Cup. Constructed at a cost of about R150 million, the theatre is at the core of a much wider city investment in the Jabulani precinct of Soweto, which also includes the construction of mixedincome residential units, commercial development, public squares and parks.

An undoubted highlight of the year was the reopening of the Johannesburg City Library as a centre of excellence, providing a unique learning and educational experience to all communities. The historic library building, built in 1935, underwent extensive renovations and reopened as a modern facility with an impressive collection of 1.5 million items – books, DVDs, CDs and periodicals. The streets and theatres of Johannesburg come alive each September with the annual celebration of the Arts Alive Festival and the Joy of Jazz Festival which attract global and national icons in the entertainment industry and visitors to the city from across the country. An important element of these festivals is the emphasis placed on community participation, educational programmes and workshops for Johannesburg’s youth. Johannesburg is proud of its rich cultural diversity and continues to celebrate the contribution made to the city’s social fabric by migrant communities – especially from the rest of the continent of Africa. The Sanaa Africa Festival was hosted for the third successive year to showcase the talents of residents in the fields of crafts, fashion, food, theatre and music. The City’s crime prevention programme, including arrests for drug-related crimes, illegal possession of firearms, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, as well as recovery of stolen motor vehicles, was implemented with great success. More than 400 joint operations were conducted with other law enforcement agencies, 177 people were arrested for illegal drug possession, 136 on firearms and ammunition offences and 7 991 for driving under the influence of alcohol. “Joburg is more than tarmac and concrete, and more than wire and pipes. It is also about socioeconomic development and transformation.” “We will continue with the process to refurbish and replace our infrastructure network and ensure that all residents have access to quality water, reliable electricity and decent sanitation.”

Sustainable service delivery cluster This cluster’s primary responsibility is the delivery and management of services: water, power, sanitation, roads, transport and waste removal, in an efficient and sustainable manner. It is done in terms of Johannesburg’s vision to ensure “a city with efficient and well-maintained service infrastructure, extended to its citizens and stakeholders, so they can all access a package of innovative, safe, reliable and affordable services”. Service delivery in Johannesburg remains confronted by a number of challenges, which have remained the same over the years, brought about by increased urbanisation, ageing infrastructure, air and water pollution, development pressure on valuable environmental resources, climate change impacts, waste management practices and the shortage of available landfill space.

Water and sanitation The City’s objective is to reduce service delivery backlogs. The upgrading of water to Service Level 1 will be rolled out in the coming financial years. However, the City supplied water to residents of informal settlements through sets of standing taps supplied from the city water supply, storage tanks that are topped up regularly by Joburg Water, and water tankers that drive into the settlements every day. Joburg Water continued with its upgrading of networks, roll-out of pre-paid metering and repairs to meters, installation of Ventilated Improved Pit toilets (VIPs) and an increasing number of response teams. A total of 1 696 households have received access to basic sanitation and the set annual targets have been exceeded. More than 9km of water and sewer networks were upgraded in Fourways, Orange Farm and Alexandra and more than 6 000 water meters repaired. The continuing upgrade of infrastructure in Soweto will result in approximately 57 000 Ml saving in the 2013/14 financial year with a further demand reduction of 45 000 Ml in the 2014/15 year. Such reductions in overall demand will diminish the possibility that the City might have to introduce water restrictions by 2015. Johannesburg is still the best performing municipality in the country with regards to water quality. It again received the coveted Blue Drop Award from the Department of Water Affairs, with a quality index of 97.69% – the highest in the country for 2012.

Environmental management Illegal dumping consumes significant attention and resources from the City and a total of 1 580 illegal dumping grounds were cleared. Strengthened by-law enforcement and improved cooperation by the public to reduce illegal dumping will release much-needed resources for rehabilitation sites. The provision of waste services concentrated on cleanliness levels and illegal dumping. This was carried out by Pikitup through street sweeping, the reintroduction of five-days-a-week cleaning at 119 informal settlements, by-law enforcement, and awareness campaigns. All households in the City, in formal and informal settlements, now have access to the basic weekly refuse-removal service. A clean-up campaign was introduced to encourage communities to care for their living environment, through education on waste management and recycling. Part of the cleaning programme was aimed at clearing and converting illegal dumping sites to recreational facilities. The National Clean Cities and Towns programme was also launched in Alexandra and Ivory Park. Targets to reduce 8% of solid waste away from landfills were not achieved, but the City will redouble its efforts to minimise waste through a city-wide roll-out of a separation-at-source campaign. The City continued implementing interventions to rehabilitate Bruma Lake and Zoo Lake, including chemical dosing to improve water clarity and litter control resulting in reduction of bacteriological pollution. A clean-up campaign was introduced with the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adopt-a-Riverâ&#x20AC;? campaign, launched at the Jukskei River, to encourage communities to cherish and maintain their surroundings.

Power, electricity and public lighting: Concerted interventions were undertaken to improve meter reading, the functionality of streetlights, and reduction of outages. This also included the installation and maintenance of public lights, the installation of bulk meters, conversion to pre-paid metering and removal of illegal connections. The 2011/12 financial year was marked by an increase in the number of requests for streetlights across the various communities of Johannesburg. The immediate challenges have been the delivery of streetlights and security lights to a growing constituency currently occupying informal settlements within an environment of limited resources. The City identified 23 priority areas for public lighting installation. A total of 5 126 public lights were installed against annual targets of 4 000 public lights, mainly in previously disadvantaged and priority areas, and 96% maintenance of public lighting was achieved. However, the City could not attain targeted performance levels on metering infrastructure and meter reading, which had an adverse impact on the revenue value chain, in particular billing accuracy and revenue collection. The number of network performance-related outages at High Voltage level was reduced to 68 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; below the target of 75. City Power initiated a phased project to replace obsolete, bare overhead low-voltage mains with a modern Aerial Bundled Conductor System. This will significantly reduce future outages due to interference by trees, inclement weather conditions and conductor breakages. In the past year, Joburg started with a ground-breaking initiative to introduce demand-side management measures to reduce wasteful consumption of electricity and water resources, and the volume of waste disposed at the landfill sites. The initial phase included the installation of energy efficient light fittings and bulbs, and prepaid meters. A total of 24 522 energy efficient lights were installed, resulting in energy savings of 1.2MW and an annual cost saving of R2.5 million. A total of 23 178 prepaid meters were installed against an annual targets of 40 000.

Urban regeneration The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) promotes sustainable economic growth through the development and promotion of efficient urban environments in defined geographic areas. It achieves this through working on the regeneration of areas of the city that are either in decay or declining, to enhance their ability to contribute to the development of the city and the quality of life of its residents. It also focuses on areas that require public investment to catalyse area-based regeneration and private sector investment. The JDA’s approach is that public sector interventions (such as investment in infrastructure, urban environment upgrades, proper urban management, provision of tax incentives) in declining areas provides the necessary platform for private sector investment and re-investment into these areas. During the 2011/12 financial year, the JDA achieved significant progress in three areas that are of strategic importance for the future economic and spatial development of Johannesburg: • The regeneration of key economic nodes such as the Johannesburg inner city, and the Randburg and Roodepoort CBDs to enable these areas to attract a greater agglomeration of economic activity and more intensity of land use. The 2011/12 phase of the Westgate Station Precinct project was completed as planned in May 2012. This project will continue as a multi-year project with annual construction phases in the coming two financial years. • The development of selected nodes in marginalised areas to stimulate local economies, increase competitiveness, and broaden access to markets and jobs. The JDA is responsible for two projects funded through the CoJ Capital grant in 2011/12: the Kliptown Development and Orlando East Station Precinct. Construction contracts were awarded for both projects in January 2012. • The development of high-density movement corridors anchored by transit nodes to restructure city form, promote efficient land use and transport energy consumption. “The process of transformation of our City’s landscape is on track, it is our commitment to continue along this road of changing the spatial structure of a divided city of the past.”

Housing Housing delivery in Johannesburg is faced with a number of challenges resulting from accelerated population growth in informal settlements through household growth and in-migration. In addition, with increasing backlogs, the demand for housing in the city is far greater than the supply and the City has identified this as an area for priority attention during the current mayoral term. The City’s performance on construction of houses and upgrade of informal households has increased to more than 100% of the target set. In June 2012, the City of Joburg was delegated with Level 2 Accreditation by the national department, meaning that it will in future exercise full programme management. The formalisation of informal settlements remains a challenge due to the longer lead times for township establishment. A number of beneficiaries have been relocated to housing opportunities but the settlements are not cleared in totality due to the presence of non-qualifiers and land availability. The City has set its targets according to the national objective to accelerate the upgrading of 400 000 households in Informal Settlements by 2014. Johannesburg is expected to upgrade 19 200 households within this timeframe. In the 2011/12 financial year, the City produced 2 691 housing opportunities – exceeding the annual target of 2 000.

Housing interventions included the provision of housing stock in the inner city, basic services at hostels, eradication of informal settlements and repairs and maintenance of old-age homes and Council stock. This included the refurbishment of Casa Mia and Amy Hospital for rental housing, maintenance and repairs at the Dube, Diepkloof and Meadowlands hostels, renovations at Anne Burger, Xavier, Caric Place and Nederburg old-age homes, as well as house construction at Lehae, to cater for the eradication of two informal settlements. In addition, the City identified 300 residents to receive their house title deeds as part of the land redistribution programme to promote property ownership for marginalised communities and entrepreneurs. “We will continue to extend our Bus Rapid Transit system to ensure that our communities have access to safe, affordable and reliable public transport.”

Transportation The transportation vision is for a city with a safe and efficient transportation system with a public transport focus, and a well-developed and well-maintained roads and stormwater infrastructure. This enables the city to connect businesses, people and places in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, thereby enhancing the standard of living and quality of life for all inhabitants as well as the overall competitiveness and growth of the local economy. The infrastructure for the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit – a flagship project in Johannesburg – was adequately provided. The set annual target of 4.92km of roadways was completed, including a mix of new road works on Phase 1B and the strengthening of layer works of two sections of 1A (Soweto Highway and Charlton Terrace). Four new stations were opened along Rissik and Harrison Streets at Park Station, and a second station along the Soweto Highway at Booysens. The completion of the Rea Vaya Dobsonville permanent depot will be achieved in the first quarter of the financial year 2012/13. During the financial year, BRT transported an average of 42 000 passengers per day, exceeding the target of 40 000. In the third and fourth quarter, the bus occupancy rates during peak hours reached 95%. The Rea Vaya operations continued to use the paper ticketing system, which will soon be phased out and replaced by an automated fare collection system. BRT operations reports indicate that the introduction of the BRT resulted in a drop in travel time from Soweto to downtown Johannesburg by almost 40%, and affordable fares compared to taxis on most of the routes. The Transport Department also introduced a number of new policies in the year under review including ‘complete streets,’ ‘managed lanes’ and ‘open streets’ to encourage residents to see streets as public spaces for all road users – not just vehicles – and to use road space differently. The review of the Integrated Transport Plan began with the preparation and conducting of surveys to understand transport demand and supply. This is key to developing an integrated public transport, walking, cycling and freight network. The Metropolitan Bus Service daily moves about 90 000 people from one part of the city to another in a safe and affordable manner. It is the second largest municipal bus operator in South Africa, with about 450 buses covering 80 scheduled routes and 130 school routes. Roads infrastructure interventions during the year focused on the resurfacing of roads, stormwater maintenance and traffic signals management, slit management in Alexandra and Soweto, stabilisation of gravel roads, and removal of graffiti and illegal advertising. Steps were taken to realise improved road quality, traffic mobility, pedestrian safety and stormwater management.

The upgrading of traffic signals at more than 200 road intersections and a drive to maintain 200 main roads as pothole free contributed to positive media coverage. The resurfacing of roads involved the patching of more than 18 000 potholes and in excess of 71km of roads being resurfaced. The upgrading of gravel roads to tar roads continued in areas including Orange Farm, Braamfisherville, Ivory Park and Doornkop. In the financial year, the City cleaned more than 100km of stormwater pipes and achieved 64% coverage of stormwater upgrade interventions. A total of 12 541 street names (painted on kerbs) have been maintained against an annual target of 12 000.

Therefore let us all roll up our sleeves today

and work together to build the future â&#x20AC;&#x201C; resilient, sustainable and liveable communities. Councillor Mpho Parks Tau, Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg

City of Johannesburg

Nthatisi Modingoane Deputy Director: Communications Tel 011 407 7354 Fax 011 403 3494 Cell 082 467 9228 E-mail nthatisem@joburg.org.za www.joburg.org.za

1st Floor A Block Metropolitan Centre 158 Loveday Street Braamfontein

PO Box 1049 Johannesburg South Africa 2000