![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Joburg-fire.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMorero faces a litany of intractable challenges. About 40% of Johannesburg\u2019s water supply goes to waste through leaking pipes, while 35% of its electricity is lost, often through the theft of cables, which causes power cuts, and people bypassing their meters to steal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yunus Chamda, a member of the Joburg Crisis Alliance steering committee, said the JCA expects the city\u2019s new leadership to \u201chit the ground running\u201d and is looking for an immediate impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe effectiveness of the reconfiguration is completely dependent upon the new office bearers. The JCA is less interested in the political representation as it is in the effectiveness to address the service delivery problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city needs R221 billion to upgrade its power and water systems as well as roads and other infrastructure, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morero said the bill was around R44 billion, with R15 billion needed for power and water. He plans to borrow money to carry out essential maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to do it quickly because our revenue is reliant on surpluses of water and electricity, so that is important income that we need to protect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city of 5 million residents must also deal with an estimated 18,000 people arriving every month, many of whom have nowhere to sleep or make a living, adding to pressures that drive up lawlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morero\u2019s top priority is tackling crime, alongside the simple enforcement of bylaws that are ignored wholesale and have turned parts of downtown into a squalid mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mayor, who is in his second stint in the role after serving for 25 days in 2022, said the city will insist on police being visible in every municipal ward. He also hopes to hire a new police chief by October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The private sector wants an assurance that the city will tackle rampant criminality if new investments are to be made. Morero agreed it was key to turning Johannesburg around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe big corporates have left there because of crime. They can\u2019t have their staff afraid to come to work,\u201d he said. \u201cCars disappear from parking lots or, as you come in, there is a smash-and-grab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the ANC did poorly in the elections, losing its national majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, its position now in Johannesburg promises more stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nor was the ANC blameless: Until recently, it was strategically propping up a major who spoke for just three of the council\u2019s 270 seats after it fell out with the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morero will now govern in a coalition that includes two of the ANC\u2019s main rivals in Johannesburg \u2014 the EFF and ActionSA, led by former Mayor Herman Mashaba \u2013- plus some smaller parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s calling itself a government of local unity, a nod to the post-election coalition the ANC formed at national level with rivals including the centrist Democratic Alliance, known in South African as the government of national unity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The DA isn\u2019t part of Johannesburg\u2019s administration, however \u2014 which Morero said was of its own choosing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the first fights Morero will have will be over a R200 surcharge on residents for prepaid electricity. The charge won\u2019t be scrapped because it\u2019s needed for vital maintenance, but there is \u201cthe possibility is that we may reduce the amount,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n