Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa yesterday outlined his government's plan to tackle problems that continue to negatively affect the lives of the majority of people in the country's economic powerhouse.

Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa yesterday outlined his government's plan to tackle problems that continue to negatively affect the lives of the majority of people in the country's economic powerhouse.

He highlighted crime, the continued poor performance by black African students and inadequate health care.

It is important to note that in dealing with crime Shilowa went beyond the normal government official response of throwing statistics in the public's face to prove that the level of crime had declined.

He correctly said "improved statistics by themselves are not enough if our people continue to feel unsafe".

Shilowa went on to say, correctly so, that there was a need to equitably distribute the policing resources in all communities.

This, he said, would improve public safety in the poor communities who are the most affected by crime.

We cannot agree more with Shilowa.

His solution is a move in the right direction to debunk the perception that rich communities are the worst affected by crime.

We also applaud his call for a summit of all stakeholders in education to tackle the continuing underperfomance by South African schools.

Such a move will go a long way in dealing with the effects of apartheid education on the African child.