The executive mayor of the metro, Clr Mondli Gungubele, will deliver the State of the City Address next Wednesday, March 26.
The event will take place in the Germiston Civic Centre, at 10am.
“In his speech the mayor shares the progress made since the last local government elections in 2011,” explained mayoral spokesman Zweli Dlamini
“Progress made in the present financial year and the way forward in terms of delivering on the mandate given to the city by the electorate two and a half years ago.”
He said issues of job creation, poverty alleviation and inequality, and progress on strategic mayoral programmes such as the aerotropolis, beautification of lakes and dams, the integrated public transport system and digital city will dominate the mayor’s address.
A new dimension that the public can expect next week will be a reflection on the achievements of the past 20 years of democracy – this of course being the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s democracy.
Although the metro is only 13 years old, the region itself has been in existence as the East Rand for years.
In actual fact, it was at the World Trade Centre, in Kempton Park, where the Codesa which led to the birth of the new non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa was held.
“Obviously, 20 years later, we have a story to tell and the mayor will certainly do that,” Dlamini explained.
For the past two weeks, Gungubele has been running a public participation campaign known as the SoCA Tips Drive aimed at encouraging the public to share their views on what they would like him to touch on in his speech.
“The public response was quite overwhelming and we are doing our best to incorporate as many of the views into the speech as possible and then we shall be good to go,” Dlamini continued, adding that plans for the big day are at an advanced stage.
