CITY of Joburg Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has taken pride in the city’s financial stability.
Gwamanda gave his State of the City Address (Soca) at the municipal offices in Joburg on Wednesday, 2 May.
Going through the achievements since 2023, when he took office, he said he takes great pride in revealing that the city and all its entities have achieved an unqualified audit opinion.
He said this underscores his unwavering commitment to transparency and prudent financial stewardship.
“It's a powerful affirmation of the effectiveness of our internal systems and the robustness of our control mechanisms given the crisis we inherited from the multi-party government.
“Although we face budget constraints and resource limitations, our dedication to delivering quality services remains unwavering.
"We have placed the needs of our residents at the forefront of our efforts by tirelessly working towards improving their quality of life and providing equal access to essential services whilst prioritising cost efficiency,” said Gwamanda.
The mayor said that a prominent achievement is that almost all informal settlements have now received basic services across all service delivery areas.
“It's compulsory for all of us to recognise the importance of our individual contributions to the collective well-being of our city. Every rand paid towards municipal services is an investment in the future of Joburg, a future characterised by resilience, prosperity and boundless opportunity,” he said.
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Gwamanda also said that the residents of Joburg cannot continue to complain about services while they fail to pay for those services.
“We must pay and be exemplary in our commitment to pay for services. The city has adopted an intensive revenue collection and enhancement initiative to assist us recoup revenue outstanding to the city, while assisting our ratepayers with queries and disputes.
“We have also taken a hardline against the scourge of illegality, where defaulting ratepayers illegally reconnect themselves despite our actions to recover monies owed to the city,” he said.
The mayor also touched on the water security in the city.
“We acknowledge the water challenges that we have recently faced. As a city, we are faced with a rapid rise in water demand that is threatening the sustainability of our water supply and straining the capacity of our systems.”
Gwamanda said that besides pioneering initiatives, they must assess the impact of these demands in terms of carrying capacity and the necessary diversification of local water supply.
“We also continue to invest in the city’s water infrastructure to improve reliability and efficiency of supply to our residents,” he said.
