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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has indicated that Gauteng continues to attract foreign direct investment.
In his fourth State of the Province Address at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, Lesufi says this confidence from international investors cements Gauteng’s position as South Africa’s primary investment and industrial hub.
He says in the previous year alone, the province attracted R27 billion from, among other nations, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, France and Australia, adding that this investment will go towards the creation of sustainable jobs.
Crime
The Premier says the only way to effectively boost the province’s economy is to tackle crime, corruption and lawlessness, head-on. He says this will be prioritised to ensure that Gauteng attracts investors who will in-turn create jobs for residents.
Lesufi made the announcement during his State of the Province Address (SOPA) at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.
“We are clear, that to grow the economy of Gauteng we must defeat crime there is no one who will invest in an epicentre of crime or invest in a province with this high number of crime statistics. We need to defeat corruption so that those that want to acquire services to create jobs are not requested to pay Coca-Cola before they can get permission of licenses. We also need to defeat lawlessness because we can’t have people building infrastructure and areas that they can’t build infrastructure.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KuqZts80pY
Illicit drugs
Lesufi has told his audience that his administration is not blind to the fact that families are directly affected by the scourge of illicit drugs and alcohol abuse.
He says the “Tswa Daar” Anti-Substance Abuse Campaign, which was rolled out across Gauteng in late October last year, attracted more than 28 000 drug users to in-patient treatment facilities.
On the problem of alcohol abuse, the Premier says they’re consulting the liquor industry with the view to reduce the issuing of new liquor licenses.
Lesufi adds that in past few months, Gauteng police have confiscated 540 000 litres of alcoholic beverages from illegal taverns, night clubs and other businesses.
Illegal mining
Some 450 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed to Gauteng and other affected parts of the country, to combat illegal mining and the violent criminal activities of so-called zama zamas.
This comes after hundreds of residents of Sporong informal settlement in Randfontein fled their area following violent attacks by illegal miners.
Lesufi has announced that no new informal settlement will be allowed to be built from the 1st of June this year in the province. He says the mushrooming of informal settlements will be dealt with by a multi-disciplinary team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dhbRuybpRk
Service delivery
The Gauteng Province has 4 786 functional traffic signals, with more than 500 that remain to be fixed. This is due to high levels of vandalism including stolen copper, which keeps many intersections out of order.
He’s also added that the provincial government’s working very hard to fix all the potholes. More than 25 000 potholes have been repaired across the Gauteng city region to ensure safer road infrastructure.
