Proramme Director, Ms Georgina Lefifi

Members of the Mayoral Committee

City Officials

Esteemed leaders in the field of academia

When we came into office and established our nine-party coalition, we had to be realistic about what we seek to achieve and how we are going to fulfill our vision of transforming Joburg into city of golden opportunities – a city that is vibrant, safe, and resilient, where local government delivers a quality life for every resident.

We had to give direction to the Administration, Departments, and Entities; and send a clear message to the 6-million residents, who were looking for hope and signal that there is a government in place that is there to serve them.

We therefore adopted 7 Mayoral Priorities, which all stakeholders in the City have aligned with through their planning and budgeting, ahead of the Budget Speech on Wednesday, 25 May 2022.

There are strategic interventions under each Mayoral priority that provide additional requirements for planning and budgeting.

The seven Mayoral priorities are:

1.     A city that gets the basics right

2.     A safe and secure city

3.     A caring city

4.     A business-friendly city

5.     An inclusive city

6.     A well-run city

7.     A smart city

Central to the success of this Multi-Party Government and making sustained and lasting progress through the seven Mayoral Priorities is partnerships. 

This is an acknowledgement of the fact that we cannot build the City on our own and that we have adopted an approach that says that Johannesburg belongs to all who live in it, and that we – government and residents – all have a role to play in its development.

One such important partner is the academic community, who through engagements like this we wish to strengthen that working relationship, especially around priority number 7 – a smart City, which equally blends into the other six priorities. 

The objective of this priority is to enable Johannesburg to adopt more innovative approaches in service delivery to better connect the Municipality to its residents. 

A smart city approach uses integrated technology, digitisation, and innovation to expand infrastructure; make data-based decisions, build greater efficiencies and to future-proof the City against unpredictable and unprecedented social, economic, or environmental changes.

Through the recently revised Smart City Strategy the City focuses on 8 Strategic Pillars to direct and guide the City of Joburg towards becoming a smarter, more livable, and adaptable city. The eight pillars under priority number 7 are: 

Smart Citizen

Smart Services

A Safe City

Livable, Sustainable and Resilient City

Connected, Intelligent City

We are working to change the culture in Joburg, but governments are not traditionally known for moving with the times by embracing innovation and technology. More often than not, policies do not move at the same pace as advancements in technology, meaning that the policies and their application do not adequately align with the world they are meant to govern.

It is for this reason, that we need an ongoing and permanent relationship with institutions of higher learning so we can tap into the latest research and knowledge.

In order to fully embrace and rollout a smart city strategy, we must be mindful of the context in which we exist, where not all our residents are connected, meaning that we must be purposeful in bridging the digital divide.

We have made strides in ensuring that the City’s public facilities are equipped with free Wi-Fi. We have seen the impact that connecting residents has on unlocking educational and economic opportunities. In this regard, over the past five years, 150,000 participants have engaged in eLearning programmes through the city’s libraries. We are of course working to see this number grow exponentially during the Multi-Party Government’s term in office.

Nonetheless, the digital divide still exists, and its is pronounced in the areas of our City that need it the most, namely Diepsloot West, Slovo Park, Orange Farm, Ebony Park Kaaifontein, Alexandra, Chris Hani and Vrededorp.

The need to be connected has been raised in all seven of the City’s Regions, during public participation meetings around the Integrated Development Plan, the meeting of which we had this last Saturday.

Residents of the City have asked that we lay infrastructure to enable connection to fibre. This infrastructure will go along way in not just opening the City to more residents, but it will allow for a network that will enable us as the City to deploy smart technologies, that for example will allow us to connect and disconnect municipal service remotely.

Programme director,

The COVID-19 outbreak widened our eyes to the importance digitisation and 4IR capabilities to ensure this City is an agile and adaptable institution no matter the natural or human-made challenges that we may encounter in the future. In this decade the city will more proactively converge the use of technology within our traditional service delivery mandates. We will use global experiences and learnings to accelerate the municipality to the future its residents deserve. The City seeks to achieve a higher global ranking as a Smart City to demonstrate its determination to maintain global competitiveness and, in so doing, create a caring, engaged, and responsive City.

Part of being a smart city is also about looking after the environment. 

Climate change is a reality that we cannot run away from, therefore I am delighted that Joburg was last recognized as the national winner of the WWF’s One Planet City Challenge, for the work we have done with the roll-out of the City’s Climate Action Plan. 

At the same time, I serve as one of the Vice Chairs of C40 Cities, and it is through this work that I advocate for the City and the globe to face the realities of clime change and for us to infuse clime action in our planning and implementation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Energy security, or rather the lack thereof, is one the greatest threats to our economy. Rolling blackout, euphemistically called loadshedding, inhibits our ability to rebuild our economy and sustain economic activity.

I am therefore, looking forward to the City’s first Energy Indaba set to take place on 23 and 24 May 2022 at the Sandton Convention Centre.

The event will not be just another talk shop, but it will map a future for the City, which will see it relying less on Eskom, the use of green energy and the onboarding on independent power producers or IPPs.

The Energy Indaba has mobilised all stakeholders in the energy sector, including you in academia. With you, the City’s Sustainable Energy Strategy will be a holistic document that will see Joburg leading the way in ensuring energy security.

Joburg’s energy security is critical to growing the country’s economy, we must therefore treat this issue with the necessary urgency it requires.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I look forward to further unpacking the Multi-Party Government’s vision for Joburg, and working with you to build a smart city of golden opportunities.

I thank you.