COMPONENT A: MAYOR’S FOREWORD EXECUTIVE …

1 Mogale City Local Municipality | chapter 1 EXECUTIVE mayor s FOREWORD and EXECUTIVE Summary C HAPT ER 1 mayor S FOREWORD AND EX EC UT I VE SUMMARY COMPONENT A: mayor S F O R E W O R D EXECUTIVE mayor S FOREWORD a. Vision The Municipality actively reaffirmed its commitment to the 2011 ANC Local Government Elections Manifesto which is the Programme of Action of Council for the 2011-2016 political term of office. This report also comes at the conclusion of twenty (20) years of democracy and will show that we are continuing to make a significant dent on the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality in Mogale City on a sustainable basis.

2 B. Key Policy Developments The Municipality continues to make substantial infrastructure investments to build an environment conducive for business to get-about their daily operations and to plan for the future. This report will show that our investor-friendly policies and connection with business yields over time the results we desire as our local economy expands despite the odds that face similar and bigger local economies. The mood is made all the more buoyant by the Statistics South Africa report of 2011 to which we referred in our 2014 State of the City address: Statistics SA data shows that our unemployment rate was in 2001 and has reduced to in 2011 which is lower than the provincial unemployment rate which Stats SA puts at whilst the national rate is at This resilience happened despite the fact that our population has grown by 22% over the same period, and more importantly, it occurs against the world economic downturn that we are slowly emerging from.

3 We have not departed from our deliberate efforts to actively intervene in the local economy through ring-fencing of 40% of total procurement to Mogale City-based companies, a figure which will increase to 50% in the 2014/2015 financial year. We still place a high premium on the tried-and-tested equalizer that is the principles of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which more than any programme helps us to absorb many of our communities into sustainable jobs. We also adopted an aggressive approach to encourage establishment of cooperatives as an easy-to-create business entity that can help numbers of people to get out of the ranks of the unemployed to self-employment.

4 Mogale City Local Municipality | chapter 1 EXECUTIVE mayor s FOREWORD and EXECUTIVE Summary c. Key Service Delivery improvements The report will show that the municipality has continued to implement its Municipal Strategy in a manner that builds confidence of residence. The people of Mogale City expect the municipality to be well managed and to be accountable for the prudent stewardship of public funds, the safeguarding of public assets, and the effective, efficient and economical use of public resources. We will show how we have managed to mitigate risks; make improvements in our ICT infrastructure; bettered municipal financial management which all culminated in us receiving a successive Unqualified Audit Opinion from the Auditor-General.

5 D. Public Participation In its preamble, the Freedom Charter (1955) cautions us that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people. The Charter being the blueprint upon which our democratic future is established, our municipality ensures that public participation remains the hallmark of all government work. The report will show that the municipality has joined others in this sphere of government in strengthening ward committees by reimbursing them for costs related to work they do in communities whilst assisting ward Councilors. It will also show that the municipality has not lost the connection with communities in relation to projects it implements in their name.

6 E. Future actions Our emphasis in the coming year and beyond, is to reinforce public participation processes by introducing focused sector meetings on regular basis, which will sit to assess community impressions about the work of different municipal departments. In the interest of a sound living environment, we will address on an urgent basis, and in collaboration with the other spheres of government, the mining legacy which affects our region and our city in particular. Already, several mining entities have shown interest in rehabilitating mine dumps around our city. To deal with housing delivery backlog, the municipality will embark on the urban site and service approach, as well as acceleration of the implementation of the social housing policy.

7 The township regeneration and inner city renewal programmes will also be vigorously implemented. A concerted effort including massive campaigns will be made to address the scourge of grime and crime across the city. The priorities outlined in the local economic development strategy will receive the necessary attention to ensure that they are indeed realized. Mogale City Local Municipality | chapter 1 EXECUTIVE mayor s FOREWORD and EXECUTIVE Summary f. Agreements and partnerships We will also revise our organizational structure to ensure that it is responsive to the new imperatives of national and provincial EXECUTIVE that will come in 2014, which will include the establishment of a dedicated Water and Sanitation department to give new impetus to this service delivery area.

8 In the year under review, we encourage local municipal procurement to Mogale City-based business entities In order to boost our local economy. We will also support the 2016 merger of Randfontein and Westonaria municipalities in our district while working towards the establishment of the West Rand Unicity in the future. This report will show how we are working in collaboration with government departments and private business in the provision of services to our communities. g. Conclusion The central message of our work remains that we are single-minded and willing to forge ahead with building a better city, while conforming to all and sundry that the Mogale City we live in today is better than the one we lived in before 1994.

9 T Mogale City Local Municipality | chapter 1 EXECUTIVE mayor s FOREWORD and EXECUTIVE Summary COM P ONENT B: EXECUTIVE SUM M ARY 1 .1 . MUNICIPAL MANAGER S OVERVIEW MUNICIPAL MANAGER S OVERVIEW Mogale City Local Municipality closed another eventful and succesful fiscal year in 2013/2014. A heightened spirit of quality service delivery was carried through from 2012/2013 financial year into the period under review. Most importantly, the City has so achieved a Clean Audit opinon from the Auditor- General in line with the target set by National Government for all municipalities to achieve a Clean Audit opinion by 2014.

10 Needless to say, Mogale City is one of the few who have met that target. This year saw increased productive interaction between Councillors and Officials in the interest of a better life for all in the City. There was increased spending on Mogale City-based co-operatives which performed maintenance projects and provided other services relating to Infrastructure and Environment. We rehabilitated our roads network and ensured that our peri-urban areas were socio-economically linked to their urban neighbours. Work on the critical precinct plans for all our peri-urban areas started earnestly which will result in tangble economic benefits for our communities.