JOHANNESBURG – Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, says the city needs a complete refurbishment to fix its infrastructure challenges.
He said the next four years are aimed at turning he entire city into a construction site to have roads resurfaced, cables replaced and water pipes dug up, to address the city’s infrastructure issues.
“This means resurfacing and reconstructing our roads rather that just plugging the holes.
It means new sub-stations with higher capacities and it means new water pipes with larger diameters to feed growing communities,” Mashaba said.
He also mentioned that one of the sub-stations is as old as 30 years and have passed their useful life span that supplies the entire inner city.
“No service parts are available for this sub-station any longer- they stopped making those parts 20 years ago.” Mashaba added.
The city also suffers 45 000 water pipe leaks.
Mashaba lambasted the maladministration committed by his predecessors, saying the city’s entities have been hit by institutionalised corruption and crime.
“Never before had there been an appreciation of how fraud and corruption has robbed the poorest in our city.
He said he is initiating a new approach to the budget planning cycles which will enable them to divert the required resources.
Mashaba says, by 2021, the city will see better road, less power outages and a stable water supply and reduced losses.
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