Alpha Ramushwana6 September 2024 | 11:51

'The CBD will rise': Lesufi optimistic about Joburg clean-up operations

The Gauteng Premier said it was only a matter of time until both the CBD and townships of Johannesburg were clean and safe, following the launch of the Johannesburg CBD Rejuvenation Programme.

'The CBD will rise': Lesufi optimistic about Joburg clean-up operations

Hillbrow street, Johannesburg Image: Wikimedia Commons/Joonas Lyytinen, Käyttäjä:Joonasl

JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has identified aging and deteriorating infrastructure as one of the major challenges facing Johannesburg.

He said that the provincial government will intervene to assist the municipality replace and upgrade necessary infrastructure for service delivery.

Speaking in Soweto on Friday, Lesufi assured residents that additional resources would be allocated towards infrastructure refurbishments.

"We are the only generation where people planted things 30 years ago. Those things are getting old. We have to change them. Similarly in the CBD, the infrastructure there is old. We just have to overhaul it. Do we have the capacity, the skill, the talent and the resources? It will take time. So it's baby steps for now."

He also expressed satisfaction with government's efforts to rehabilitate and clean Johannesburg's inner city. 

Provincial government alongside the city recently launched the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD) Rejuvenation Programme, aimed at keeping streets clean. 

The municipality on Friday launched a similar initiative aimed at enhancing service delivery to communities across the city. 

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Lesufi said it was only a matter of time until both the CBD and townships of Joburg were clean and safe. 

"We have our systems now. We are starting with cleaning, and we are putting security for 24 hours every day to ensure that people that are in the CBD are protected. That CBD will rise, because we can't leave Johannesburg the way it is. It's bad... and completely unacceptable. We can't have a Joburg where there are informal settlements inside buildings and people are dying inside them," said Lesufi.