President Cyril Ramaphosa said has put together a working team, to turn Johannesburg around ahead of the G-20 Summit scheduled for November.
Ramaphosa announced the Presidential Johannesburg Working Team on Friday at the conclusion of a two day meeting between his executive Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the City Mayor Dada Morero.
“We are proposing the establishment of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group. This would bring in all levels of government and the expertise of our stakeholders to accelerate service delivery, stabilise the city’s finances and operations, and enable economic growth and job creation,” said Ramaphosa on assembling the team.
There’s been concerns that authorities appear to rush to repair and upgrade infrastructure just to impress G20 guests but the leaders denied this was the case emphasising that Johannesburg needed to work as part of a drive for South Africa’s success.
“As we prepare for the #G20SouthAfrica Leaders’ Summit, we must keep in mind that we are improving the city for the long term and for the benefit of our citizens; we must make them proud once again to call Johannesburg their home,” said the President.
Nevertheless Ramaphosa did make the case for the importance of impressing the guests.
“When our visitors leave after the #G20 Leaders’ Summit, let them leave inspired by what theym saw and experienced in Johannesburg,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the team will be coordinated by a representative of government alongside another from the private sector and is expected to report regularly including to himself.Ramaphosa said a similar intervention had been successful in Ethekwini Metro in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Working with these stakeholders and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, led by Mayor Cyril Xaba, we were able to unblock several challenges. We were able to fast-track water supply agreements for the Upper Mkhomazi Water Project, improving effluence compliance and reducing non-revenue water through infrastructure upgrades,” the President said.