SIEMENS

What is your vision of a livable city?

Tau: It’s a place that creates opportunities for everybody who wants to access the city, its cultural, social and economic amenities. It’s a city that is accessible from a transportation point of view, but also a city that you can interact with – the ability to get into the street, be a part of the city and interact with the people in the city.

How close is the city of Johannesburg to achieving this goal?

Tau: We are on the right track, but we need to better address the issue of public safety. We’ve conducted a survey of our business community and found that crime affects 61 percent of any decision to invest in the city at the moment. As we all know, without investment, there can be no jobs, and without jobs, the economy cannot be sustained. This means that, whatever else we, we simply have to do something about crime. And that’s why we have assigned ten metro police officers to each of the city’s 130 municipal wards so that they can work with communities to find solutions to local public safety problems. Additionally, the Metropolitan Police Department will launch a zero-tolerance campaign regarding law enforcement and traffic violations. And that will create an environment that is conducive for everybody to interface with the city and for us to be able to attract investment, but also for us to be able to address the challenges of poverty and under-development.

How do you deal with informal settlements?

Tau: The first step in addressing informal settlements is about formalizing them. We need to accept that a lot of settlements exist and we need to be able to formalize those that are on public land. Communities must have the opportunity to develop property on those settlements. By 2014, our aim is that all settlements within the City should have legal status and that services such as water, sewage, lighting and roads, be substantially upgraded.

What are your sustainability targets for Johannesburg?

Tau: We are in a water-scarce part of the country. The bulk of our water comes from a neighboring country, Lesotho. They are currently building additional water delivery infrastructures to supply us. So over the next few years we’ll be facing challenges in this area. Our challenge is to ensure that we mobilize the people of Johannesburg to be an integral part of the solution. For example, we have put on an annual Water Festival to raise awareness on water and sanitation issues, with educational and family activities. For primary school children, we have a road show in place aimed at teaching them about the importance of saving water. We certainly believe that by investing in infrastructure and mobilizing the people we’ll be able to conserve water and therefore help to ensure long-term sustainability. As a country we face challenges with regard to the reliability of our energy supply. Three or four years ago we had to undergo load-shedding. Load shedding means that when demand for electricity exceeds the available supply, you have to carry out planned supply interruptions. So we have to introduce energy efficiency mechanisms. Our building standards have been updated to emphasize energy efficiency, taking into account energy consumption, onsite renewable energy, public transport, waste recycling and rainwater harvesting – just to name a few. And we’re working with the South African Property Owners’ Association to consider mechanisms for retrofitting major property owners.

What will Johannesburg’s future energy supply look like?

Tau: Currently we rely to a large extent on coal-fired power stations and, to a lesser degree, on gas. But we need to diversify our energy supply in the direction of greener energies. So we’re looking at solar in the domestic context, but also solar-to-grid solutions. We are working with the national government on solar household solutions and there are programs that we’re implementing that introduce solar geysers to households. But we also have to look at other energy supplies. We’ve implemented a program that looks at flaring methane gas from our landfill sites, thus mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In the future we want to convert that to electricity.

How can civic engagement help to improve the quality of life in cities?

Tau: Civic engagement is very critical because it enables people to become an integral part of their city, showing them that their relationship with the city is not transactional. It’s not about “I pay rates and municipal service charges to the municipality.” It’s a about being citizens and being part of the city’s social fabric.