Over the past few weeks we have attempted to traverse every corner of what will become the new Tshwane Metropolitan Council on 5 December. We have done so in an effort to meet with all for whom it will be home.

We have met the residents of informal settlements, living in the most abject poverty and squalor - denied access to even the most basic amenities that make for dignified human existence.

We have met the residents of affluent suburbs, concerned that the fruits of their labour will be threatened by crime, un-affordably high taxes, a lowering of standards, corrupt and unaccountable city planning practices. We have exchanged ideas with pupils, students and young people thirsty for knowledge but apprehensive about the future they face once they have

acquired this knowledge.

We have heard the concerns of the teachers and administrators of the institutions of higher learning with which our city is so richly endowed but also their willingness to unleash the resources at their disposal to co-operate with government and the private sector in propelling our city into the 21st century. We have met women abused by their partners, we have gone to those who

care for those who suffer from AIDS and we have visited the ill and infirm as they lie in hospitals or queue for pensions or disability

grants. We talked to children living on the streets - abandoned by their parents. We have heard their cries for a more caring society.

find employment.

We talked to business people big and small and discussed ways of ensuring economic development and prosperity in our city.

We have spoken with members of all faiths and requested them to support us in our quest for the moral renewal of our society.

We have met with members of the media who have at their disposal the means not only to convey information, ideas and opinions but also to shape attitudes, perceptions and aspirations. We have requested them to wield their pens critically and constructively.

We have met communities who perceive change as happening too slowly and who see a new metropolitan council as a vehicle with which to escape from poverty, homelessness, disease and unemployment. We have met other communities who perceive change as occurring too fast and who see a new united metropolitan council as a threat to their culture and way of life - a colossus that will lead to their marginalisation or subjugation to the interests of the majority. We have met each other. We have talked with one another. We have agreed and disagreed with one another. After having done so we are convinced that everyone we met shares the desire for a better life in a better city.

- We all desire the eradication of poverty;

- We all desire safe and secure communities;

- We all desire a clean living environment;

- We all desire employment;

- We all desire the delivery of basic services;

- We all desire a responsive and accountable local government;

- We all desire a clean, effective and efficient local administration;

- We all desire economic development and progress;

In the five and a half years since 1994 our society, under an African National Congress led government, has taken huge strides towards fulfilling this desire for a better life. Our ability to provide a dignified existence to our citizens has been enhanced with the construction of over a million new homes, the provision of clean water to 6 million people and electricity to 2.5 million houses.

roads in former black and rural areas. Our desire to become a society in which the doors of learning and culture are open to all is being fulfilled through the construction of 24 000 new class rooms and the presence of 1 million more children in our schools.

The foundations for national reconciliation and the creation of a South African nation, united in its diversity, have been laid and our

democracy is constantly deepening.

These are achievements of which we as a South African nation can be justly proud because they are truly remarkable by any standards and othing less than phenomenal for a young democracy still taking its first steps after a terrible and traumatic childhood.

However, phenomenal as these achievements might be, the poverty, inequality and human misery that we find in so many parts of our city serve to remind us that the road ahead long and that we need to speed up the pace at which we are traveling towards a better life for all. The enormity of the challenges we face remind us of how arduous this journey will be without companions committed to sharing the burdens of the road.

We wish to make an appeal to you as business and community leaders, but also as citizens, residents and parents, to commit yourselves to undertaking this journey with us. We need your assistance to ensure that our city prospers and enjoys sustained economic development.

As the African National Congress we are committed to: Ensure local economic growth that benefits the majority of our people

and creates jobs; Improve public transport and build houses closer to economic centres, so that people can work close to home;

Strengthen local economies by upgrading water, electricity, roads, healthcare and security; Support national job creation  programmes, such as the Community-Based Public Works Programmes and the Department of Labour's Employment

Centres Support community-based enterprises, including co-operatives, micro-enterprises and small businesses; We need your assistance to ensure that our city is a safe and secure Whilst the national government is responsible for the police, courts and

prisons local government must work with the people and national and provincial government in building safe and secure communities.

We need to make sure that the traffic police and municipal security services, including city police, support the police in improving

community safety; We need to design community infrastructure, especially street lights, buildings and public transport, to ensure the safety of all people, particularly women, children and the aged; We need to attack crime at its roots by developing more prosperous, integrated and dynamic communities. We need your assistance to ensure open, accountable, clean, effective

and efficient government and administration in our city. All councillors shall sign a code of conduct requiring them to:

Regularly report back to their constituencies; Fight corruption in tendering, hiring and other government functions;

Declare all their assets and business interests; If councillors violate the code of conduct, they will be recalled.

Conclusion