Johannesburg is collapsing in real time, and the ANC-led administration is nowhere to be found, as they are too busy attending the NGC in Boksburg.
This week, refuse collection has stalled across multiple communities; taps have run dry, with no water tankers in sight despite daily rainfall; power outages have dragged on for days; and City Power contractors, owed a staggering R2 billion, are now so desperate that some are asking residents to pay for materials just to restore electricity.
This is a shocking indictment of a government that has completely lost control of the most basic functions of the City. While residents sit in darkness, with dry taps, surrounded by uncollected waste and mounting service failures, ANC bigwigs in Johannesburg are attending their National General Council in Boksburg, prioritising factional politics over the wellbeing of the people they claim to serve.
This is not leadership – it is abandonment.
Democratic Alliance Councillors across the City of Johannesburg are fighting tirelessly to get these entities to answer to their customers, the residents of Joburg, while fault log after fault log is closed without reason or resolution.
This is unacceptable. These entities exist to provide basic services to residents, yet hide behind misinformation, the obfuscation of responsibility, and an ever-declining level of service delivery.
And as if things couldn’t get worse, entities are denying DA Councillors access and the right to oversight when they we demand answers for our residents. This is violation of legislation and prevents councillors from performing their basic oversight function.
Johannesburg residents deserve far better than a government that cannot provide electricity or water, cannot collect refuse, and cannot pay its own contractors, yet continues to prioritise political conferences and internal squabbles.
The Democratic Alliance will be demanding urgent answers and immediate action from the Executive Mayor, the City Manager, and the MMCs responsible for Joburg Water, City Power and Pikitup. We will also call for full transparency on the City’s financial position and the reasons behind the ballooning debt owed to contractors.
We will not allow Johannesburg to become a cautionary tale of failed governance while the ANC focuses on its own survival instead of the needs of millions.
The DA will continue fighting for a functioning, accountable, and financially sustainable Johannesburg that serves its residents first.