Gauteng Quality of Life survey shows improvement

13th November 2018 By: Tasneem Bulbulia - Senior Contributing Editor Online

The latest Quality of Life Index for the Gauteng City Region (GCR) shows a sustained improvement in the quality of life and an increase in the levels of satisfaction with national, provincial and local government, the Gauteng provincial government reports.

The index, which is compiled by the GCR Observatory (GCRO), measures 58 variables, with the overall quality of life in Gauteng having improved from 6.02 in 2011 to 6.30 in 2018.

Premier David Makhura on Tuesday said the results showed continuing improvement in the quality of life index over time and that access to basic services remained high.

Makhura said the index helped government to inform policy-making and evidenced-based governance across the GCR.

“Specifically, the survey has become one of the most comprehensive and reliable instruments to measure citizens’ satisfaction and perceptions on governance, service delivery, socioeconomic development and the quality of life among the people of Gauteng.”

He noted that there had been increases in residents’ satisfaction with all spheres of government since the last survey was done.

For example, with regards to the provincial government; 45% of respondents are satisfied with the provincial government compared with 39% in the 2016 survey.

GCRO executive director Rob Moore said despite continued high levels of population and household growth in Gauteng, the survey showed that levels of access to services have remained stable.

“Access to piped water to homes and yards has remained above 90% over the decade that the survey has been conducted. This tells us that government is broadly keeping pace with increases in demand for service connections.”

However, he noted that there had been signs that provision of services had deteriorated significantly in some municipalities, while delivery had improved in others. “This reflects in different levels of satisfaction with local government,” said Moore.

Makhura said government had a responsibility not to put its head in the sand but to do something about the negative results coming out of the survey.

He noted that crime was now the number one concern, followed by unemployment and drug abuse.

“Whereas a great deal of work is being done at national, provincial and city level to deal with investment and economic recovery, as well as housing delivery, a lot more needs to be done to address crime and drugs. We need a fresh start in crime prevention,” said the Premier. 

“We appreciate the work done by the GCRO. These results are going to inform our decisions and policies. We will now use these results to improve the quality of life of people of Gauteng and change the perceptions that people have of government.”