Gauteng SOPA

Gauteng SOPA: Five key points from Premier Makhura

David Makhura’s Gauteng SOPA included promises to scrap e-tolls as well as some unexpected praise for the DA and the way they run the Western Cape.

Gauteng SOPA

Gauteng Premier David Makhura outlined his lofty goals for the Gauteng Province over the next 11 years in his state of the province address (SOPA) titled ‘Growing Gauteng Together: Our Roadmap to 2030’.

According to Makhura’s SOPA, the focus for the ANC-led sixth provincial administration of Gauteng will be:

  • Economy, jobs, infrastructure
  • Education, skills revolution, and health
  • Integrated human settlements and land release
  • Safety, social cohesion, and food security
  • Building a capable, ethical and developmental state

Under those focuses their priorities will be:

  • Growing an inclusive economy that creates decent jobs
  • Delivering quality education that equips children with skills for the future
  • Improving the public healthcare system
  • Accelerate the building of sustainable human settlement and spatial transformation
  • Intensify fight against corruption and promoting integrity
  • Building a reliable, safe and affordable integrated public transport system
  • Building social cohesion

Scrapping e-tolls

Makhura called Gauteng the engine room of the South African economy and thus charged it with being the driving force behind South Africa’s economic recovery and helping realise President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dreams for the country.

“Over the next five years, we will introduce special economic zones where feasible and necessary, to add momentum towards turning Gauteng City Region into a single, multi-tier and integrated Special Economic Zone,” he said.

“Within 200 Days, I will announce the total number of jobs each sector and company will contribute towards our five-year job creation target, including the contribution of the township economy, cooperatives, and SMMEs.

“Gauteng will use the R60 billion infrastructure budget to drive an agenda for job creation, economic empowerment, and spatial transformation.”

He also promised the end of e-tolls was on the horizon, even if it meant the province dipping into their own coffers to help cover the debt.

“Our position has not changed. We remain determined to ensure that e-tolls are not part of the future of our province,” he explained.

“We are even prepared to contribute something as the provincial government to ensure the e-tolls are scrapped. There is no turning back.”

Reforming education

The Gauteng Premier also promised a reformation of the education system in the province in order to make sure that people were properly skilled for all these new jobs they would be creating.

“In order to support the transformation, modernisation, and re-industrialisation of our economy and take full advantage of the opportunities in the digital economy, a skills revolution is necessary,” he explained.

“We are also gearing our education system to meet the demands of the economy of the future through the rollout of schools of specialisation working in partnership with the private sector.

“However, I want more attention to be directed at strengthening and improving the performance of primary education in Gauteng.”

Land release

Makhura revealed that despite significant progress in having delivered 1.2 million government-subsidised houses over the last 25 years, more needed to be done as the backlog stood at around a million more houses needed.

“Accordingly, we have introduced two key interventions: Mega human settlement and rapid land release. Our Rapid Land Release programme has received overwhelming popular support from different sectors and strata of society.”

The rapid land release programme has seen the province hand allocated land over to residents who are happy to build their own homes on the property rather than waiting for a government-subsidised one to be constructed.

Safety and social cohesion

On safety, despite the situation around the country, Makhura probably cut a more proud figure than any other topic in his speech.

While he conceded crime was a huge issue faced by the entire country, he is happy with strides Gauteng has made in combating crime in the province and is confident they can continue to turn the tide.

“Since February, more than 3 000 people have been arrested and counterfeit goods to the value of R151 million recovered. This includes the arrest of 229 most wanted criminals, including those wanted for cash-in-transit heists, drugs, murder, gangsterism, and gender-based violence,” he revealed.

“In the next five years, we will be strengthening police oversight in an effort to enhance the performance of all police stations in our province. One of the new initiatives is that we will conduct regular performance audits of all 142 police stations and Community Policing Forums and release bi-annual reports on the performance of every police station to enhance accountability.”

Praise for the Democratic Alliance

In one of the biggest shocks of the speech, Makhura praised the Democratic Alliance-run Western Cape for the strides they have made towards effective and accountable leadership in the promise.

His words came in the wake of the Auditor-General’s report that only 14% of municipalities around the country had achieved a clean audit and the majority of them were in the Western Cape.

As a result, he plans for the provincial government to be more proactive in its oversight of municipalities around Gauteng.

“All these bold initiatives I have tabled before this House, to the people of our beautiful province will not happen by osmosis,” he said.

“The cautious approach is not working because things are going wrong in both small and big municipalities and residents are suffering.

“In fact, I like the Western Cape model where municipalities are put into line, whether they like it or not. Collaboration and accountability on all major service delivery and socio-economic initiatives will be enforced.”