Speaking at the Turffontein Racecourse, mayor Parks Tau continually returned to the theme that the city’s “new economic democracy” is rising as it implements its 2040 vision.

“Looking back over the past five years, since the genesis of the city’s Joburg 2040, it is clear that we have covered a vast distance in a very short space of time,” said the mayor. “Building on this record, this government intends to accelerate these ambitious programmes as we build a city which is liveable, sustainable and resilient. A rising new economic democracy where all citizens can be assured that tomorrow will be better than today.”

The African National Congress (ANC) is pushing to retain Johannesburg in the local government elections as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) could draw votes away from the party. Listing his government’s achievements in the city, Tau’s comments almost seemed a throwback to former mayor Amos Masondo’s comments in his final state of the city address in 2011: “We remain aware that we should triumph through our actions, never through a mere argument.”

Johannesburg is addressing the spatial legacy of apartheid through its Corridors of Freedom strategy, said Tau. It’s aiming to change the city’s spatial make-up targeting areas from “Fleurhof and South Hills, to Kliptown and Jabulani, to Turffontein and Rosettenville… Empire Road; to Randburg, Jabulani, Orlando East and Park Station”.

It’s still unclear whether Tau could continue as mayor after the elections, with the ANC still to announce its candidates for key metropoles across the country.

“It is about multistorey buildings rising along the corridor combining commercial space, green space, recreation and cultural amenities, market-rate rentals and social housing. This means more people across a range of incomes are able to live richer lives much closer to where they can live, work and play,” said the mayor of developments aiming to bridge Norwood, Houghton, Orange Grove, Bellevue and Yeoville. Tau added that new developments would include quality integrated housing and said the city has managed to formalise 29,000 of its 168,000 households in informal settlements.

Last year, Tau announced the Vulindlel’ eJozi programme, a partnership with the Haraambee Youth Accelerator, aiming to help train and hopefully get 200,000 youth employed by 2016. The programme has registered 127,000 people, he said on Wednesday. He also noted technology partnerships to train unemployed youth and said 14,000 small companies have been assisted through the city’s SMME hubs. He also noted efforts to boost township economies, bridge the digital divide through rolling out fibre-optic cables and free wi-fi areas, and support innovative businesses.

“Billions of rand worth of purchasing power hidden in our townships and informal settlements are being unleashed. The new economic democracy is rising. The city is working with large corporates including Massmart, VW and Tsogo Sun to build cohorts of capable small businesses that can be integrated into their supply chains,” said Tau.

On public transport, the mayor boasted of trying to connect the CBD with other areas, the continued expansion of the Rea Vaya and the public transport and cycling lane loop in Sandton, but he didn’t announce any significant new programmes.

“At the end of this term, we would have spent more than R30-billion on improving this city’s infrastructure. This is part of a R100-billion capital commitment over 10 years. Over one-fifth of that is allocated to the electrical grid, bringing light and heat to those who have never had power, and ensuring the lights stay on for everyone else,” said Tau while condemning cable theft and noting the city’s power-saving efforts.

“We can celebrate the fact that 99.4% of citizens have access to water, and 94.5% have access to basic sanitation. Our investment has been on water networks, sewer networks, storage capacity and treatment capacity. We have focused on improving service to marginalised areas including Soweto, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Diepsloot and Alexandra,” the mayor continued.

Regarding quality city management, Tau said the ombudsman, which was recently established, has received 1,500 queries, resulting in 600 cases, and noted the city’s unqualified audits for the past two years. And, of course, the mayor mentioned traffic lights, noting 930 traffic control signals had been replaced in the last year.

The DA wasn’t impressed. “Today Mayor Parks Tau failed the people of Johannesburg by delivering a state of the city which is like an ANC fairy tale, while Johannesburg remains in a desperate state. Today shows us that in office, Mayor Parks says one thing but does another,” said the party’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba. “This address was a repackaged and reheated serving of previous pledges and failed promises. It spoke of the same old past promises, rather than the future. It was all structured to divert attention away from the harsh reality of residents lives in the townships: hardship, struggle and desperation.”

Before Tau’s address, Mashaba suggested his own solutions to the city’s problems. He called for tenders to be broken up to benefit small businesses, for a transparent tender system, for unused city land to be leased at low costs to small businesses, for a single-ticket public transport system, for the city to speed up delivering title deeds, and for potholes to be fixed within 48 hours. “Simply put, the mayor and his administration demonstrated that he lacks the special skills needed to take this special city forward,” Mashaba said on Wednesday.

But Tau was resolute. “The new economic democracy is rising!” he finished his speech on Wednesday. It’s probably a slogan we’ll hear a lot as the elections approach. DM

Photo: Parks Tau, Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, speaks during the workshop ‘Learning from Leading Cities’ at the Annual Meeting 2014 of the World Economic Forum at the congress centre in Davos, January 23, 2014. (WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Jolanda Flubacher)