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The Citizen
18-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Johannesburg Crisis Alliance reveals the real state of Johannesburg at summit
The Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) convened its sixth summit at the Wits University Margo Steele Auditorium on May 10, focusing on the current state of Johannesburg and the city's governance. Read more: SME Growth Summit 2024 empowers small businesses This important gathering brought together approximately 350 delegates from civic organisations, residents associations, and concerned community members to discuss Johannesburg's ongoing governance and service delivery challenges. It featured discussions on the presidency and included a representative from the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) to provide insights into the city's challenges and potential solutions. Mixed assessments of Johannesburg's stability Neeshan Bolton, from Ahmed Kathrada and the JCA, expressed a cautiously optimistic view of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), stating that while there are elements of dysfunctionality, the city is more stable than it was a year ago. Bolton noted that attendees reported seeing improvements in their neighbourhoods, such as streetlight repairs, although these efforts are not uniformly experienced across all 135 wards. He emphasised the need for the city to articulate a clear vision and address core issues to foster long-term stability and growth. Khule Duma, director in the Presidency, highlighted the broader economic context, noting that South Africa's economy has stagnated for over 15 years, with rising unemployment and low gross domestic product growth. Duma called for rapid implementation of bold economic reforms to stimulate growth and improve the quality of life for Johannesburg residents. Snapshot of challenges Deficits and service delivery breakdowns: • 78% of bridges in poor or very poor condition. • 35% technical losses experienced in the City Power network. • 33% increase of residents experiencing electrical interruptions since 2017/2018 (not due to loadshedding). • 17% increase in water disruptions since 2017/2018. • 46% non-revenue water rate. Severe financial distress • 17 days of cash cost coverage (indicates ability to pay fixed costs). • R23b owed to creditors (from R11.9b in 2019/2020). Public safety and environmental challenges • 600 estimated hijacked buildings in the inner city. • 85% felt unsafe walking in the inner city at night. PJWG's objectives and timeline The summit introduced the objectives of the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group (PJWG), which aims to strengthen governance, improve service delivery, drive economic development, and rejuvenate inner-city hubs and townships. Duma outlined a two-phase implementation plan over 24 months, consisting of short-term interventions designed to yield quick wins within two to three months, and long-term strategies addressing systemic challenges over 12–24 months. Also read: Joburg Crisis Alliance hosts summit to hear from political parties about their views of coalition politics Duma added that the 'quick wins' consist of: • Addressing poor reinstatement (potholes), • Streetlights and traffic lights, • Debt owed by provincial and national government, • Police visibility, • Accelarating the finalisation of infrastructure agreements, • Cleaning public spaces, and • Opening of public institutions. He highlighted the importance of collaboration among stakeholders, including the JCA, to ensure accountability and effective resource allocation. Power supply stability and future prospects Another concern on the agenda was the ongoing debt dispute between Eskom and the CoJ, which sparked concerns across the residents of Johannesburg Sicelo Xulu, chairperson of SANEDI , provided an update on Johannesburg's power supply situation, stating that discussions with Eskom regarding a settlement agreement are progressing positively. He reassured the citizens of the city that there is currently no threat of power supply termination to Johannesburg, attributing this stability to ongoing cordial engagements. Bolton echoed Xulu's sentiments, outlining the critical nature of resolving power supply issues to prevent dire consequences for the city. The summit concluded with a commitment to addressing the root causes of Johannesburg's challenges, and to discussing sustainable solutions in ensuring the city's longevity. Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! Related article: Educators join SAs first Digital Life Skills Summit At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Mail & Guardian
12-05-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Joburg Crisis Alliance questions ‘quick wins' focus of presidential working group
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero. (Lubabalo Lesolle/Gallo Images) Civil society actors have voiced growing scepticism about the Johannesburg presidential working group's focus on 'quick wins', warning that the city's long-term recovery is being sacrificed for short-term political optics ahead of the G20 summit in November. Speaking at the sixth summit of the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) on Saturday, Yunus Chamda, the organisation's programme coordinator, said 'It's proven to be a useful platform for partnerships, especially with the business community,' said Chamda, adding 'City officials dominate and do not consider the views of everyone in the meetings.' Chamda described the committee as trapped in a 'quick wins conundrum', noting that although the focus on immediate interventions may build confidence, it risks bypassing the city's deeper systemic problems. 'It's too much of a G20 service delivery initiative instead of a long-term plan for the residents of Johannesburg,' he said Some of the lessons from the eThekwini municipality working group included that the government did not include civil society as much as it could have, admitted Khule Duma, director of the project management office in the presidency. In his report to civil society, Duma said the committee faces 'the challenges of repurposing a corporatised entity such as the Johannesburg group'. President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to establish a working committee in the country's economic hub in March ahead of the G20 November summit has sparked debate on whether ongoing high impact service delivery initiatives will be sustained. Duma said in phase one, the presidential committee will implement 'quick wins' interventions that will tackle 'low hanging fruit' and show improvements from April to July 2025. These short-term goals such as fixing streetlights and traffic lights, improved police visibility, addressing potholes and finalising infrastructure agreements aim to build business confidence. Duma highlighted the positive effect of improved waste management in eThekwini, reflecting there could have been more inclusion of civil society. Phase two of the Joburg committee will address systemic and complex problems where improvements are expected over a period of 12 to 24 months, he said. At his visit to the city council, Ramaphosa announced the resurgence of the district development model, a policy enacted prior to the 2010 Fifa World Cup to boost intergovernmental collaboration under a 'One Plan' framework across 44 districts. Chamda told the Mail & Guardian that although the district model that renovated identified economic corridors in Sowero and Hilbrow has potential, it will require firm commitments to address the city's interconnected problems. 'The big question for the Joburg Crisis Alliance is whether stakeholders will genuinely have a say in this platform, or whether the government will continue with business as usual — protecting their own interests and relying on methods that have failed in the past,' he said. Chamda said the committee ought to focus on the 11 key recommendations and 334 public submissions it received from residents to ensure coordination with other existing forums. Chamda said he is concerned the committee is government top-heavy, incredibly untransparent and with a high risk of legitimising corrupt politicians. Duma said the committee's aim for the sixth administration is to support municipal structures not as an implementer but as a coordinator of different departments where it will receive monthly reports. After 15 years of economic stagnation, the He added the Joburg committee, led by director general in the presidency Phindile Baleni, seeks to accelerate the city's turnaround strategy. With five apex long-term objectives already identified, Duma said these must now form part of the city's medium-term Integrated Development Programme (IDP). Members of JCA attending the summit questioned the effectiveness of the city-led presidential committee with the involvement of former Johannesburg Property Company chief executive Helen Boates, who is accused of alleged corruption in the 2023 Usindiso building fire incident. Duma responded by saying the committee is not a formal section 139 intervention that places local municipalities under administration of the national government, adding it was the city which approached the presidency for assistance. On Wednesday, Morero said the Inner-City Revitalisation Project forming part of phase one of the presidential committee is already tackling basic service delivery problems to restore dignity to residents. Innocent Mabusela, head of communications at Jozi My Jozi, a civil organisation part of the presidential committee, said the initiative is a welcome and timely intervention with the G20 providing impetus to accelerate service delivery. 'Equally encouraging is the City of Johannesburg's ongoing blitz operations, which bring together various government departments and agencies to tackle issues such as urban decay, illegal dumping, unsafe electrical connections, hijacked buildings, and failing water and sewer infrastructure,' Mabuselsa told the M&G. Mabusela said Jozi my Jozi calls for 'a coalition of the willing' to support the work done by the government. Neil Gopal, chief executive of the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) said it is still too early to determine the outcome of the committee. Gopal told the M&G that if corruption, crime and municipal backlogs are not addressed then 'the natural consequences are that it will continue to drive away investments, and result in significant impacts which will result in increase to costs of doing business'. 'The Angela Rivers, general manager of the Johannesburg Property Managers Association (JPOMA), told the M&G there is cautious optimism based on whether the committee can provide real accountability and community involvement to residents eager for change. Rivers said there is a historical pattern in Johannesburg of plans being announced with much fanfare but faltering at the implementation stage. 'For meaningful change to occur, these structures need to overcome bureaucratic inertia, ensure transparency, and integrate private sector expertise. Without these shifts, there's a risk they may repeat the mistakes of past initiatives that promised legacy benefits but delivered limited long-term impact' she said. Sicelo Xula, board chairperson of South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi), reassured residents at the JCA summit that Eskom will not be cutting power Xula said Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa is in discussion with Morero regarding a settlement agreement to resolve the debt dispute. The discussions are at an advanced stage, said Xula, adding the minister will consider legacy issues such as the fact that although the debt to Eskom is huge, the debt owed to municipalities is also substantial. Julia Fish, manager at JoburgCan, a civil society organisation advocating for improved service delivery, said metering data from Eskom is in dispute with City Power in the courts, which raises questions about how long Joburg will be able to keep the lights on. The presidential committee meets fortnightly, coordinating across eight service delivery workstreams and submits monthly reports to the mayor and presidency.
