MANDY WIENER: Beautiful Ellis Park experience shows what public/private partnerships can achieve

How beautiful and satisfying was it to see the rave reviews of Springbok fans’ Ellis Park experiences at the weekend?

There was a clean, efficient, reliable train network that ferried thousands of South Africans in and out of the stadium precinct. Roads had been cleaned, potholes fixed, lighting improved, and law enforcement deployed to ensure the safety of citizens. 

Prasa received much of the praise as social media networks were flooded with images of gleaming trains packed with fans in green and gold jerseys. Rightfully so. We are desperate for a world-class public transport system, and this is evidence of what is possible. 

Prasa would argue that what we were seeing was evidence of the turnaround strategy underway at the parastatal and what has been done to get it back on track post the state capture evisceration era. That must be applauded because it really has undergone an improvement.

Of course, there was some criticism of the fact that the City of Joburg only rolls out service delivery for once-off events such as this one and most services are dysfunctional for the bulk of the city’s residents. 

However, one of the primary reasons the Ellis Park precinct got a much-needed facelift was because of the public/private partnership driving the improvements. 

This was a coming together of the City of Joburg, the Jozi My Jozi Movement, Lions Rugby Union, stadium management and several corporates and other organisations. 

Stephen du Preez, founder of LocalAbode and the Jozi My Jozi project lead for the Urban East District Alliance, spoke about the regeneration plan which has been coordinated. 

“It is so encouraging to see what is possible and what can be achieved when so many different and diverse people work together towards a common goal,” said Du Preez. “And, this is not a one-day or a one-event wonder. This area will be maintained, kept clean, brightly lit and secure on an ongoing basis, as part of the partnership Jozi My Jozi has with the City of Joburg and all its other stakeholders, corporate partners and organisations.

“We all need to become active citizens and work together going forward to ensure this area, and the many others like it across the inner city, are clean, safe and inviting to draw people back to appreciate the myriad things that Jozi My Jozi has to offer to everyone,” emphasised Du Preez in a statement.

The government, in its GNU era, is coming to terms with the fact that it requires public/private partnerships to succeed and deliver services. 

One of the most notable failures of government over the past decade has been at the municipal level. 

The Auditor-General’s report released last week was again the annual reminder it has become. 

AG Tsakani Maluleke revealed that only 34 municipalities received a clean audit. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure surged to R7.4 billion in 2022/23. 

The Hawks are investigating cases of corruption in 120 of the 257 municipalities. 

It is at the municipal level that we really see mismanagement and shockingly poor governance and corruption. 

This is largely why the incredibly successful Operational Vulindlela’s second phase is going to focus on fixing these municipalities. 

Operation Vulindelala, a joint initiative of the Treasury and the Presidency, has been working in close collaboration with the private sector through Business for South Africa (B4SA). Its primary objective is to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms and support economic growth. Its greatest successes to date have been in the electricity sector, the rail network and logistics, the country’s visa regime and the increasingly available digital spectrum. 

BUSA’s Busi Mavuso has previously pointed out that significant private sector resources and skills have been mobilising to support government interventions, but they are not there to prop up the government or replace it. 

“Of course, the private sector is not here to compensate for or replace government, but we have a shared objective in improving the business environment and thereby the performance of the economy. Together, we are better equipped to overcome far faster the obstacles that frustrate progress,” wrote Mavuso. 

Rightly so. 

We can’t expect the private sector to merely assume the responsibilities of the state when we are paying taxes for service delivery. However, as we have seen through the collaboration between B4SA and Operation Vulindlela, and as we saw this past weekend at the Ellis Park precinct, so much more is possible when everyone is pulling in the same direction.