Phuti Mosomane
In a state of State of the Province described by opposition leaders as electioneering, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi claims his administration is winning the war against crime, unemployment and the energy crisis.
Lesufi said Gauteng has attracted more than R68 Billion in investments from 261 foreign companies and created about 23,000 direct jobs in our economy. These investments cut across the ten high-growth sectors of the economy.
According to Stats SA, the economy of Gauteng is now bigger than the economy of the Western Cape, KZN and Limpopo combined. Compared to other provinces, Gauteng has the largest number of employed people at around 5 million, Lesufi said.
“Despite the job losses during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, our economy remained resilient, and we rebounded with over 449,000 jobs.
“During this past year, Gauteng, as the country’s economic hub, experienced an increase of 96,300 jobs, with 31,300 jobs in the last 90 days. We are proud to declare that since the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy is now firmly back on track and we are ready to pump our economy further,” he added.
Lesufi also pointed out that the Province proudly hosted the 5th South African Investment Conference in April last year, bringing together leading minds in business and government to unlock new opportunities for growth and development in South Africa.
In total, this conference realised R1.14 trillion worth of investment commitments across a range of economic sectors, of which R22 Billion are destined for Gauteng, he said.
On fighting crime
The Crime Prevention Wardens were granted Peace Officer status by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services in December 2023 and Lesufi said the wardens have received extensive basic training from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) at its military base.
“The CPWs are deployed on a 24/7 shift basis in different wards and crime hotspots under the supervision of SAPS, Gauteng Traffic and Metro Police Departments. Some of the CPWs are undergoing specialised training.
“Thus far, they are receiving advanced training on fire-arm competence, as drone pilots, training in crowd-control, advanced driving, and training on anti-land invasion and infrastructure vandalism, while others will be on monitoring cameras in our three interim command centres.”
Lesufi said the government is increasing the number of Crime Prevention Wardens to over 12000.
“Asijiki! No corner of our townships, informal settlements, CBDs or hostels will go unpoliced. Our war on crime knows no bounds; it is real and it is uncompromising,” he said.
He said the comprehensive integrated crime prevention plan is anchored on improved access to policing service, improved partnership policing, reduction in identified priority crimes, implementation of E-policing, increasing the human resource capacity and professionalism of law enforcement, deployment of intelligence capacity, improved support and strengthening our fight against GBV.
In another effort to fight crime, Lesufi said over 7 000 cameras are working in an integrated collaborative manner to make Gauteng province safer.
He said these cameras were made possible by the partnership with Business Against Crime, SANRAL, VumaCam, and Tinstwalo (a partner from Ekurhuleni Municipality).
As part of a programme to revitalise CBDs and rid them of crime, lawlessness and vandalism, the government has identified Small Street in Johannesburg, as the first of many that require immediate intervention.
“From now on, Small Street will be under 24-hour surveillance with CCTV strategically deployed along the area. We are putting up a permanent deployment of 350 law enforcement officers. When we get it right in Small Street we will surely succeed in other CBDs in the province,” he added.
Cameras are also being used to monitor crime hotspots, including in the 6 provincial hostels (Goerge Goch, Jeppe, Denver, MBA hostel, Murray and Roberts, and Rethabile LTA hostels), as well as selected high-risk schools identified by the Department of Education.
The Townships
Lesufi also revealed that the government is prioritising the economic landscape of townships through increased financial and non-financial support to township enterprises.
“We are starting to see significant indicators of the birth of new economies in our townships. Our commitment to buying goods and services from the township enterprises is starting to bear fruits.
“Over the past five years, the GPG has spent R15 billion on businesses from the townships. In the last year alone, we spent R2.2 billion on township businesses which demonstrates our substantial investment to empower township communities, leading to increased economic activities, job creation, and a positive impact on the unemployment rate,” he said.
Lesufi said in the past year, over 4 000 township retailers have been trained in enterprise development and are now capacitated to operating successful businesses.
On Energy
Lesufi said the protracted electricity crisis has caused significant hardship for people and has had a detrimental effect on the growth of Gauteng’s economy. Power shortages have a negative impact on the availability of healthcare services, food and water, the level of crime, and unemployment rates, amongst others.
“Although energy is not a competency of the province, load shedding’s crippling effect on the functionality of the state and its impact on broader society compelled us to intervene.”
“After extensive consultation with the energy sector, we developed an energy crisis response plan in collaboration with the national energy committee, local government, and energy experts. This was followed by the announcement of R1.2bn in funding that we made during the SOPA.
A five-point strategy was adopted to respond to this crisis: eliminating all illegal power connections, installing smart meters in every home and business, improving revenue collection, cleaning the indigent register, and replacing all damaged transformers, the Premier said.
However, RISE Mzansi Gauteng Premier Candidate Vuyiswa Ramokgopa said the final Gauteng State of the Province Address (SOPA) delivered by Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the ANC was nothing more than a campaign speech that will not change the lives of communities and families.
Ramokgopa said Lesufi’s SOPA was a public relations stunt which painted a picture of a Gauteng that is safe and prosperous; and he failed to take stock of the lived experiences of residents. Gauteng is unsafe, poorly governed, and unable to take advantage of being the province with the largest contribution to GDP at 33%.
“At the start of this term in 2019, the SAPS recorded 4,555 cases of murder in Gauteng. This number has tragically rocketed to 6,411. This is despite the resources behind the legally ambiguous ‘AmaPanyaza’, which terrorise communities rather than keeping them safe.
“Fewer people are working. In 2019 the expanded unemployment rate was at 35%, which has ballooned to almost 40% at 39,3%. Meaning 2-out-of-5 residents who should be working do not have jobs,” Ramokgopa said.
She said the governance of the province and its metros is on shaky ground. The province has had two Premiers since 2019, and collectively the three metros have gone through 12 different Mayors since the 2021 Local Government Elections.
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