Smart city mantra stays a sweet dream
BEFORE we start arguing about smart cities, let us rewind a bit and take a closer look at the “progress” made on the National Development Plan (NDP).
We all know it was the issue of Julius Malema’s discipline or lack of, and the NDP that thrust Cyril Ramaphosa back into the political spotlight and into the minds of ANC delegates who saw him as the Trojan horse to replace Jacob Zuma as ANC president. Otherwise, Ramaphosa was an insignificant member of the ANC, at least as far as the branches were concerned.
For the public, Ramaphosa was always the darling who stood next to Mandela in 1994 and helped draft the Constitution.
Now as president, Ramaphosa seems to have forgotten his quiet years as a soft and loyal member of the NEC of the ANC who assured all he will forever be obedient to the good and bad of the ANC.
How then can Ramaphosa be expected to be this new champion of discipline and order? Moreover, why does Ramaphosa speak about smart cities when he knows a city in a developing country and a stagnant economy, cannot be built in five years?
If this is so true then why are we still having housing shortages, people squashed in back rooms and shacks as well as a lack of accommodation for students? Why not use this 5G to build smart RDPs, smart hawks and police, smart prisons and smart hospitals for the existing villages and towns, in a second?
The smart city mantra remains a sweet dream sounding very nice during a time of despair and pandemics. No one is questioning the ability of Ramaphosa as a businessperson to build a smart city in his lifetime. But the reality of the matter is that, as president, Ramaphosa will not build any smart city but perhaps a smart village.
Let us remember the smart city is supposed to be built already, under a first term presidency of Ramaphosa, and fully finished within 10 years.