Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said on Friday the Gauteng government has begun consulting with municipalities to develop minimum service standards in the province.

She met with mayors and municipal managers on Friday.

Mokonyane said the proposed standards will be made public so that people can use them to assess government’s performance.

She said municipalities will build on lessons learnt from hosting the FIFA World Cup, such as the smooth running of transport systems, refuse collection, by-law enforcement and policing.

Mokonyane said municipalities have undertaken to improve service delivery and ensure people in underdeveloped areas have access to basic services.

The premier then went on to say that South Africans are not xenophobic, adding the recent attacks against foreigners in the province were spurred by criminal elements.

(Edited by Deshnee Subramany)