Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s administration has failed to deliver much-needed services to residents, as the province recorded 282 major service delivery protests over five financial years from 1 April to 31 March 2026.
Of these 282 service delivery protests, 82 were for the 2025/2026 financial year, 51 for the 2024/2025 financial year, 57 for the 2023/2024 financial year, 54 for the 2022/2023 financial year, and 38 for the 2021/2022 financial year. Many of these protests related to electricity and water, which respectively accounted for 47.9% and 25.9% of the total protests.
Gauteng residents are fed up with the bad service delivery they receive daily from Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s government. Consequently, residents protest to be heard, but nothing changes because this government is reactive and makes empty promises.
The reasons cited for these service delivery protests include issues related to electricity, water, sanitation, housing, roads, refuse removal, and governance matters involving councillors. There were 135 protests relating to electricity, 73 for water, 18 for sanitation, 15 for housing, 15 for Roads, 11 for refuse removal and 2 for Councill or governance issues.
This information was revealed in a reply to the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
See the full reply here.
It is high time that MEC Mamabolo urgently intervenes in municipalities that are unable to provide services that residents pay for. Unfunded mandates for municipalities have now become the norm, while other municipalities have little to no cash on hand to pay their creditors. One such example is the City of Ekurhuleni. The City currently owes creditors over R7 billion and does not have sufficient funds in its bank accounts to pay all its creditors.
In the Emfuleni Local Municipality, residents often face raw sewage entering their homes due to the municipality’s inability to repair sewage pipes.
Furthermore, the MEC is unable to specify how much money has been lost to service delivery protests over the last five years due to damage to public infrastructure, nor what the economic implications of these protests have been.
The DA Gauteng is the only party that has a solution to the service delivery issues faced by residents in the province. Previously, we unveiled our Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP), which outlines how we would work with the private sector to ensure that infrastructure projects such as schools, clinics, hospitals, and road maintenance are tracked and completed on time and within budget.
At our recent manifesto launch, the DA pledged to build corruption-free municipalities, by appointing competent people based on merit, not political merit. We would ensure that every resident has reliable access to water by reinvesting water revenue in infrastructure and brining in the private sector investment and expertise. Furthermore, we will ensure that residents are kept safe by bringing policing closer to the people and empowering municipalities to fight crime on the ground.