Major events such as the G20 Summit often push the government to raise standards, says international relations and cooperation minister Ronald Lamola.
He was briefing briefing the media on South Africa’s state of readiness ahead of the G20 Summit, set to take place at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
Lamola said hosting global events like the G20 can help accelerate service delivery improvements.
“We have seen how hosting a major event of this magnitude can be a catalyst for higher levels of service delivery and look forward to sustaining and expanding the improvements we’ve seen,” he said.
Lamola also addressed scepticism from residents who questioned whether the sudden improvements which included fixing street lights, traffic lights and potholes were only happening because of the G20.
“I know that Panya Panya [Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi], there’s always criticism when events of this nature come and I’ve seen some of it on social media that we were doing all this because of G20,” he said.
He pointed to previous doubts surrounding the end of load-shedding ahead of the 2024 elections.
“People said it was because we were going to elections. After elections there will be load-shedding immediately. We are now one year and three months after the elections there’s no load-shedding,” he said.
“It does show that sometimes you do need events to turn the situation around, and I believe the province of Gauteng has used this event to turn the situation around and they’ve used it as a catalyst. They can only sustain it moving beyond this point,” he said.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi echoed Lamola’s sentiments, saying the province had been working intensively for months to prepare for the summit which will bring thousands of global delegates, media and visitors to Johannesburg.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to ensure that we fix the street lights, the traffic lights, fill the potholes and attend to issues that need to be attended to,” said Lesufi.
He said weekly meetings with national ministers and the executive had driven improvements.
“We’ve long agreed together with the ministers even after the G20 that those meetings will continue to be held so that we can continue to attend to some of the areas.”
Lesufi also warned that last-minute challenges remain such as the weather.
“We are almost there. I always appreciate the rain. For the first time, I don’t want the rain because it reopens the potholes and creates problems. We’re crossing our fingers that by Wednesday the weather will behave, and we’ll be able to do the final touch-ups.”
Despite this, he said the province was proud of what has been achieved ahead of the event.
“We’re quite happy and excited with the work done thus far. But until the session starts, we don’t think that we should sit on our laurels,” he said.
Lesufi said the economic impact was already being felt.
“Almost all hotels are fully booked. The airlines are fully booked to come here. Our retail stores, especially our malls, are abuzz with visitors and our major tourist attractions [are booked].
“Nasrec has never looked so beautiful,” he said.
The DA, however, has rejected the praise, accusing the Gauteng government of performing cosmetic fixes to impress global leaders while neglecting residents who endure failing infrastructure daily.
“Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s announcement that the City of Johannesburg’s water and electricity supply will remain secure and uninterrupted throughout the G20 Summit is a slap in the face of many residents who are facing severe service delivery issues,” said DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga.
“Instead of finding lasting solutions to the ongoing plight of Gauteng citizens, which includes water and electricity outages, potholes and decaying infrastructure, Lesufi has once again opted for quick fixes designed to grab headlines,” he said.
Msimanga criticised the sudden burst of repairs across Johannesburg.
“Water and electricity outages have long been a source of frustration for residents across Gauteng. Potholes are as common as daybreak, while many streetlights and traffic lights have not been functional for almost a year. Yet only now has the Lesufi-led administration finally woken up from its slumber and decided to act,” he said.
He accused the premier of prioritising optics over sustainable solutions.
“This is an insult to the people of Gauteng and clearly demonstrates that Premier Lesufi would rather stage a cover-up before the world than focus on fixing our infrastructure to serve residents who are being denied access to the most basic services, despite paying their utility bills,” he said.
Msimanga said the “sudden amplification” of service delivery ahead of the summit proves the government has the ability to do the work but lacks the political will to sustain it.
“It exposes that poor service delivery is not due to a lack of resources, but rather the failure of the Lesufi-led minority government to implement essential infrastructure upgrades.”
He accused Lesufi of having a track record of “temporary fixes” citing the collapsed AmaPanyaza programme and the on-off Nasi iSpani jobs initiative.
The DA has challenged Lesufi to present a long-term plan to maintain the improved services after the summit concludes.
“The residents of Gauteng can no longer be treated as mere weekend specials by a premier obsessed with saving face to hide his incompetence. They need uninterrupted water and electricity beyond the G20 Summit. They need well-maintained roads and functioning traffic lights throughout the year, not when the world descends on our province,” said Msimanga.
TimesLIVE
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