The truth about Joburg’s inner city problems – Mashaba replies

Ferial Haffajee and I agree on one thing – much work needs to be done in order to turn the situation in Mayfair around. This isn’t a condition unique to Mayfair but is a characteristic of the inner city as a whole.

However, the lingering impression left by the piece suggests that the challenges within Mayfair are not only recent but are a product of the new multi-party government.

On this, Haffajee and I disagree; this is not the first time we have disagreed on this specific issue. The truth of the matter is that the frustrations of Mayfair residents, and Ms Haffajee, who is a member of said community, are frustrations that I feel about the inner city as a whole.

As the multi-party government, we promised to deliver better governance and improve the lives of our residents. We remain committed to that.

What Haffajee seemingly fails to appreciate are the deep-rooted and systematic failures which were inherited by the multi-party government – failures which have resulted in the decline of the inner city and informal settlements, which includes areas such as Mayfair, and failures which we are progressively attempting to address within a limited fiscal framework.

This is the legacy of misrule which we have all inherited from the ANC.

Indeed, the ANC within the City of Johannesburg sought to pull the wool over residents’ eyes by not disclosing:

• infrastructure backlogs totalling R170-billion, because of years of years serial neglect and underinvestment. This includes: a R11.8-billion backlog in our road network; a R56-billion backlog in stormwater drainage that results in the increasing structural decline of our roads. This historic lack of investment in infrastructure is also seen in the flooding in a number of communities, including Soweto; and our electrical infrastructure backlog sits at a staggering R17-billion alone;


• Seventy-eight percent of our 900 bridges in the city are classified as being in either poor or very poor condition. R6.5-billion is required to address this;


• More than 27% of our bulk transformers now operate beyond their useful lifespan, ranging between 48 and 91 years old;


• Almost 200 informal settlements where residents suffered from poor service delivery; and


• An inner city which was allowed to decay into a slum ruled by lawlessness.

• JMPD has committed to monitoring the sites of the park where criminal activity is alleged to take place. This includes the use of unmarked vehicles to monitor these areas. This also includes running Operation Buya Mthetho activities to address chronic by-law infringements;


• Social Development have profiled most of the homeless people in the area. The majority of them have been advised or encouraged to seek assistance in shelters and rehabilitation centres. JMPD is to monitor vagrancy in the area;


• The City’s Department of Development Planning is set to conduct regular inspections in the area. The property will be identified for multidisciplinary law enforcement activities;


• The City has conducted an assessment of stormwater blockages – a recurrent challenge caused by illegal dumping – for the purpose of affecting repairs and maintenance;


• Pikitup continues to work with the community to build both a culture of keeping the ward clean and providing service in this high population density area. This includes services provided to residents at Bekezela Informal Settlement where 54 tons of waste has been removed. An arrangement has been made with this community to ensure daily cleaning, as occurs throughout the ward, supplying 200 refuse bags on a weekly basis, and we have provided a skip in the area; and


• We have managed an arrangement with the vagrants who occupy the park at the corner of 9th and Princes Street in Mayfair in order to manage cleanliness levels within the park.