The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng demands the immediate establishment of an infrastructure oversight unit with real enforcement powers, emergency maintenance programmes for critical systems, coordinated security responses to construction extortion, and transparent, accountable tender processes.
This approach combines immediate crisis management with sustainable long-term solutions. We can’t afford another day of constitutional neglect while our province’s infrastructure collapses.
A recent Bureau for Economic Research (BER) study confirms what Gauteng residents experience on a daily basis. The province faces a critical infrastructure collapse while provincial authorities fail to fulfil their constitutional oversight responsibilities.
The consequences extend beyond immediate service failures. As the BER study notes, “As long as basic infrastructure is allowed to crumble, South Africa will not only struggle to attract investment but is likely to see continued disinvestment from the worst-affected areas.”
Despite the National Development Plan’s target of 30% GDP investment in infrastructure by 2030, actual investment has plummeted to 14.5%, with Gauteng municipalities bearing the brunt of this decline.
Premier Panyaza Lesufi, has consistently neglected the Section 139 constitutional mandate to intervene when municipalities fail to deliver essential services.
Water systems are failing, with communities like Hammanskraal experiencing years of unreliable and contaminated supply while municipal water infrastructure deteriorates from lack of maintenance.
Electrical infrastructure operates beyond capacity, with substations in major municipalities facing chronic overload and maintenance backlogs exceeding billions of rands.
A sewage catastrophe unfolds daily as wastewater systems collapse in municipalities like Emfuleni and Mogale City, sending raw sewage into the province’s waterways and creating severe public health risks.
Road and rail infrastructure continues to deteriorate, with maintenance backlogs exceeding R35 billion and once-reliable commuter rail services now virtually collapsed.
Compounding these challenges, “construction mafias” demand 30% of project values, effectively holding infrastructure development hostage while provincial authorities fail to coordinate effective security responses.
A DA Gauteng-led provincial government will immediately implement its comprehensive Infrastructure Recovery Plan for Gauteng, which addresses these critical failures. This includes establishing an Infrastructure Intervention Unit with technical experts to directly assist failing municipalities and securing infrastructure through public-private security partnerships. A zero-tolerance approach to corruption in tender processes will be adopted.