'African cities cannot cope with the rate of urbanisation' - Tshwane mayor Ramokgopa

31 May 2016 - 16:47 By Roxanne Henderson

Homelessness and other problems linked to rural-urban migration do not necessarily make Africa cities failures – migration is just happening too fast.This according to Tshwane executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ speaking on Tuesday at the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum and Sustainability Week in Pretoria.Ramokgopa was responding to a question on the apparent inability of African cities to cope with migrants from rural areas.“The fiscus can't accommodate the rate of urbanisation‚ hence this forum [has been created]‚” he said.Ramokgopa explained that in Europe‚ cities were urbanised on the back on industrialisation and over generations.Down south the circumstances are different and cities cannot cope‚ he said.He also said that in South Africa the remnant apartheid geography of cities posed a further challenge in creating a sustainable city that works for its citizens – with the growth of informal settlements and people having to drive long distances to where they need to be.Ramokgopa said that recent tension in areas like Hammanskraal can ultimately be linked to issues around the distribution of land‚ services and the challenges of urbansiation.Ramokgopa asked his mayor colleagues from across the continent to put their heads together to find solutions.Here are nine sustainablity priorities Ramokgopa said the city of Tshwane had commited to achieve:• Development of social and technical infrastructure to facilitate connectivity and ease of doing business;• Collaboration with green building councils on the continent to transform our built environment to facilitate rapid response to disasters of various kinds and magnitude; • Address head-on the developmental challenges posed by the Food – Water – Energy nexus; • Jointly leverage sustainability financing to guarantee sustainable economic growth without compromising the carrying capacity of the planet’s systems and resources; • Prioritise the reduction of informal settlements which are the most palpable manifestation of urban poverty by improving access to basic services like clean water‚ electricity‚ health services and urban food production programmes;• To learn from each cities in implementing both climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes to minimise the contributions of cities to climate change; • To transition towards a green economy that will ensure the provision of basic services‚ secure local economic development while preserving natural resources‚ stimulating employment creation and industrial activity; • Assume leadership in technological innovations to create waste management systems that encourage recycling as well as the development of energy from waste sites and gas extraction processes; • Ensure enhanced advocacy and participation in the United Nations Framework on Climate Change as well as developing a coordinated approach towards the implementation of the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)...

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