South Africa’s richest city is in serious trouble
The City of Johannesburg is collapsing with widespread corruption, water and electricity outages, hijacked buildings, traffic jams, and rampant crime.
Last week, the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) called on the city’s Executive Mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, to resign.
The CJA made this call in the wake of the significant decline in citizen confidence and trust in the leadership of the executive mayor and his mayoral committee.
The alliance highlighted many severe problems in Johannesburg, with a deepening crisis looming.
It pointed to the recent introduction of a R230 fixed fee for prepaid electricity users in addition to significant electricity price increases.
These significant price increases, which the CJA called “arrogant, uncaring, and insensitive,” occurred amid widespread electricity outages across the city.
Years of neglect and underinvestment forced City Power to implement load reduction to prevent the collapse of its power systems and infrastructure.
City Power needs to invest billions to fix this ageing and inadequate electricity infrastructure, and it does not have the money.
City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said Joburg residents logged about 4,000 electrical faults with City Power per day, but it only had enough manpower to attend to 800 such issues.
This is why Johannesburg introduced big electricity price increases and the unpopular fixed fee. It needs more money, fast.
This fixed fee has been widely criticised as disproportionally hurting poorer households and putting strain on struggling citizens.
Another big problem is the city’s crumbling water infrastructure. The CJA said citizens have experienced intermittent water supplies since 2023.
There have also been prolonged water cuts in recent weeks despite public assurances by Joburg Water that the supply is being managed adequately.
It has reached such severe levels that the water outages have resulted in street protests in different parts of the city.
Johannesburg’s water infrastructure has not kept pace with its rapid population growth and cannot cope with increased demand.
The city has more than enough water. The issue is getting the water to the end user as the infrastructure deteriorates.
It is estimated that, due to leaks, between 45% and 50% of all water in Gauteng pumped from the bulk water supplier, Rand Water, does not reach an end user.
Water scientist Anthony Turton said the water supply is being mismanaged, resulting in water shortages in parts while dams are sufficiently full.
Johannesburg needs R25 billion to fix its water infrastructure and potentially billions more to replace outdated equipment to meet increasing demand.
The City of Johannesburg’s collapse extends far beyond the collapse of the electricity and water infrastructure.
Widespread corruption and mismanagement have resulted in the city landing in financial problems.
The MMC Finance said the city needs to loan R2.5 billion from Agence Franqaise de Dévelopement (AFD) to cover budget shortfalls.
As the richest city in South Africa, this budget shortfall should have never occurred. It has more than enough money to make ends meet.
The Johannesburg Crisis Alliance added that there is a collapse of services regarding road maintenance and cleanliness.
Many residents complain that traffic lights don’t work, which causes unnecessary congestion and decreased productivity.
It has become commonplace to see unemployed people directing traffic at busy intersections due to traffic light problems.
Another problem is streetlights. Tens of thousands of streetlights in Johannesburg are out, creating security problems and endangering motorists.
Crime and corruption are also huge challenges. Wits University Adjunct Professor Alex van den Heever said corrupt government officials had turned Johannesburg into a “crime scene”.
He said the rising issue of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg is one example of government failure in the city.
“If you had to look now at the Johannesburg CBD, it is becoming a crime scene overall. There is complete neglect from one end to the other. It looks like a failed state,” he said.
van den Heever added that when you see something like this, it is invariably because there is endemic corruption.
He said the public officials responsible for oversight and management of Johannesburg’s buildings and infrastructure have no incentive to do their jobs.
“They’re making money from its destruction, not from its upkeep. There is no other explanation for what we’re seeing,” he said.
“It’s extremely worrying because the collapse is rapid at this point, and there appears to be absolutely no plan to address this at all.”
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