Gauteng Premier David Makhura named Midrand as one of the areas earmarked to benefit from a R40-billion investment by various companies in Gauteng during his State of the Province Address on 18 February.

The planned investments for Midrand which are expected to commence later this year would be made by Cummins Engineering and CCL Lab Investments. He said the Gauteng government has been working closely with businesses in service industries including Business Process, Outsourcing, ICT, financial services and tourism in Midrand and Sandton.

Makhura revealed that according to the latest data, the province had attracted R199 billion of foreign direct investment in five years, creating 30 000 jobs in the process.

“Going forward, we must be more aggressive and decisive in pushing a vision of turning the entire province into a single, multi-tier, mega special economic zone. Our dream is to grow Gauteng step by step into a single special economic zone.”

With a population that has doubled from 7.8 million people in 1996 to 14.7 million, Makhura admitted that the housing backlog in the province had remained stubbornly high. Although the provincial government had delivered 1.2 million houses, the backlog was at a high of more than 1 million houses.

“This is due to rapid urbanisation and the high rate of in-migration,” said Makhura.

To address this challenge, he announced that there were 31 mega human settlements planned for the province in the next five years. Of those human settlements, 10 were already under construction, 11 in detailed planning and 10 were at a conceptual stage.

He added that as part of the solution to the housing backlog, the provincial government had introduced Rapid Land Release as a policy shift to make land available for people who want to build their own houses.

“This policy shift comes directly from the feedback we have received from communities, where more and more people say to government ‘give us the land, we will build for ourselves’.

“I am concerned by delays and citizens are frustrated by the slow pace at which the release of the land is moving due to unnecessary bureaucratic delays by the provincial government and municipal officials.”

Makhura boasted about the province’s matric results with eight of the best performing districts in the country found in Gauteng. He said they have introduced pro-poor policies to increase school attendance and educational achievement among children from disadvantaged homes.

In the past five years, 1.2 million girl children were provided with dignity packs, 1.1 million learners with meals on a daily basis and 500 000 with school uniforms.

Makhura said the government spends R1 billion annually on student bursaries in line with the priority skills aligned to the priority sectors of the economy.

He supported President Cyril Ramaphosa’s policy decision to invest in early childhood development (ECD). “This is a game changer that will have a far-reaching impact for the future of our children. In the past four years, the province has increased access to ECD from 83 000 to more than 480 000.”

In line with youth employment and skills development, Makhura said more than 510 000 young people have benefitted from demand-led skills training and entrepreneurship development including the Tshepo 1 million programme.

He added that the government had also made progress regarding the economies of townships. In the past five years, the government had procured goods and services from township businesses to the tune of R22 billion.

Partnerships between Pick n Pay, Old Mutual Masisizane Fund and Gauteng Enterprise Propeller had seen 11 spaza shops transformed into sustainable retailers with a monthly turnover of R300 000 and creating 220 jobs.

“There are complaints from businesses and cooperatives that some of the by-laws and regulations impede the growth of township businesses. I call upon municipalities to urgently amend their regulations and by-laws so that they can facilitate and promote the growth of township businesses.”

Makhura yet again spoke against e-tolls mentioning that although the user-pay principle was not in question, there was a clear recognition that urban tolling increased the cost of living and therefore it was unsustainable.

“Proceeding from this consensus, government teams are hard at work to find a solution for e-tolls.”

Makhura further called on municipalities, especially Johannesburg and Tshwane, to cooperate with the provincial government to safeguard the security of water and energy supply to the residents of Gauteng.