​Thabo Bodibe 
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has declared a transformative agenda to uplift Township Informal Settlements and Hostels (TISH) across the province.
In his State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday, he highlighted the significance of townships as the heart of Gauteng's identity while acknowledging their current dire conditions.
"Our townships represent who we are and where we come from. They remain special places but are in a very bad state," he said. 
Central to Lesufi's vision is the " iCrush le Lova" programme, an initiative to empower township residents while upgrading living conditions.
"We will undertake this unprecedented program by recruiting more than 40,000 unemployed township people trained to be artisans, bricklayers, electricians, and plumbers in a programme called "iCrush le Lova". All these unemployed will be taken to TVET colleges and SETA programs to be trained and supported and, upon conclusion, directed to employment opportunities."
Lesufi announced plans to refurbish the undeveloped four-room structures in townships, starting with indigent families.
This programme, he added, will, in turn also, expand township database of South African architects, hardware stores, building suppliers and contractors to assist in the design and construction of upgrades to houses in the townships. 
"Unemployed people in the townships will be trained and upskilled to be part of this initiative. Lesufi announced plans to refurbish the undeveloped four-room structures in townships, starting with indigent families."
He also alluded that work has started at over six hostels in the city region, with notable work at Jeppe Hostel and George Goch Hostel. 
These hostels have installed free WiFi, CCTV cameras, and mobile clinics on site. 
In a bid to bridge the digital divide, Premier Lesufi underscored the importance of reliable internet access in townships.
Through strategic partnerships with Telkom, Herotel, and Broadband Infraco, over 50 townships now boast broadband coverage, with plans to expand connectivity across all townships in Gauteng.
"During this term of office, we made investments intended to modernise infrastructure for the rollout of the Gauteng Provincial Network. This network is being maintained, ensuring its resilience as a backbone for connectivity. We extended Wide Area Network (WAN) capabilities to 1,249 sites, Local Area Network (LAN) coverage reached 719 sites, and 344 sites were equipped with voice capabilities."
Beyond 2024, the provincial government plans to roll out to all public institutions, schools, healthcare facilities and state offices with dependable WiFi.
Addressing the crumbling infrastructure in townships, Premier Lesufi announced upgrading municipal roads, identifying and committing to improving 120 roads across various TISH areas.
These translate to 40 roads in Ekurhuleni, 40 West Rand and 40 more across informal settlements in Gauteng.
Additionally, he announced that government will continue to provide environmental management support to TISH communities through the Bontle ke Botho (BKB) sustainable clean-ups and greening initiatives to enhance human dignity and instil pride in communities. 
"We will get this right if our communities also do their part in ensuring the cleanliness of this province, thereby averting littering and dumping," he said, adding that where municipalities fall short, the provincial government will appoint an implementing agent to resolve the water and sanitation challenges due to burst pipes.
Turning to the proliferation of informal settlements in Gauteng, the premier said the formalisation and upgrading of informal settlements into " townships of the future" remains a key priority for the province to ensure they are better places to live.
He announced plans to upgrade 68 informal settlements and accelerate efforts to decongest and relocate residents to habitable areas. There are approximately 700 recorded informal settlements in Gauteng.
This plan includes placing people in the completed Mega Projects or other new housing developments. 
"During the current term, we provided more than 2000 households from 20 informal settlements with the security of tenure through relocation into the completed mega projects. An additional 64 informal settlements were provided with rudimentary services, and 16 were provided with bulk services," Lesufi added. 
Photo Cred: SABC