Interview with the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa ahead of his State of the City of Tshwane speech on Thursday 14 May. From Transport to Internet Connectivity to Energy, Mayor says Tshwane is reconciling and transforming its economy and landscape. Â Tim Modise
Welcome to the Transformation slot here on Biznews. I’m now joined by the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa who is preparing himself for the State of the Capital Mayoral speech on Thursday. Mayor, you have been talking a lot in recent times about the Freedom Charter and how it informs the work that you do in Tshwane. Why is that and what are the broad themes from the Freedom Charter that you intend addressing?
Indeed. As you know, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the celebration of that seminal document that informed both our Constitution and the National Development Plan.
What we presently want is an occasion to celebrate and to focus some of the issues and interventions we are making in Tshwane, to reconfigure the space and ensure that (1) there is spatial justice, (2) ensure that there is social cohesion, and (3) ensure that we are able to propel the economy of the city to a different level so that we able to create opportunities.
In addition, the economy that we are growing is a low carbon economy, so it’s free of fossil fuel if you want to reduce the contribution of fossil fuel. We are therefore mentioning a number of interventions.
In restoring the dignity of our people, we are running a program called aga Tswane, which is about providing services to people. There’s the same connection with regard to potable water, electricity, sanitation, and domestic waste collection.
Part of the problem concerning us today is that it takes many years for Government to be able to provide top structures – what we call RDP houses – to our people and therefore, we begin to see the proliferation of informal settlements where people don’t have access to various amenities.
We are saying (as an innovation and intervention) that whilst our people are waiting, let’s provide these basic amenities and that’s what we call the aga Tshwane so that we meet all the needs of our people. I want to invite you to some of the older RDP settlements in our city.
One side is a more expanded area in Atteridgeville. You will find that our people have, over the passage of time, from their own incomes, made serious improvements to the RDP houses, as you know so a new asset class is being created in townships. People are investing in their own property so want to give them an opportunity to do that.
Tshwane is a big land mass area. It’s spread out. Given that the majority of people live in the townships far away from the pressures of work and transport is definitely a very expensive item for them, how is the City assisting them in that regard and what investments are you making in terms of provision of public transport?
There are two important features on the aga Tshwane. 1. As we identify pieces of land for us to provide, we are providing them with opportunities. For example, people who are located to the far west of the city – the west of Atteridgeville informal settlement. We are bringing them closer to the city.
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