Ekurhuleni celebrates 25 years with claims of stability, innovation and recovery
Ekurhuleni Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza used his final council address of the year to reflect on service delivery gains, financial recovery, governance reforms and new investments as the city prepares for its 25th anniversary.
Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza framed his final address of the year during the last council sitting on Thursday as a reflection on progress ahead of the city’s silver jubilee (25th anniversary) next month.
He said this milestone marked the CoE’s story of stability, financial recovery, improved service delivery, and strengthened governance under his administration.
The mayor opened by honouring the city’s formation in December 2000, when nine towns and 11 administrations merged into one metropolitan municipality.
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He highlighted long-term achievements, including the Aerotropolis Master Plan, the Harambee BRT system rollout, major housing developments, such as Leeuwpoort, and three consecutive clean audits.
He also noted Africa’s first operational AI factory recently launched at the Teraco Data Centre, calling it a sign of Ekurhuleni’s emergence as a hub of innovation.
Marking National Disability Rights Awareness Month, the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, and World Aids Day, the mayor reiterated the city’s commitment to disability inclusion, combating GVB, and advancing community health.
He praised the Corner-to-Corner HIV prevention campaign for taking services directly to residents.
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The mayor also celebrated the CoE hosting the G20 Social Summit, saying it contributed roughly R74m to the local economy and was supported by faultless EMPD security operations.
He also reflected on his participation at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where the city advanced climate and investment partnerships.
He added that discussions were underway to establish an Ekurhuleni International Convention Centre in partnership with the Birchwood Hotel.
Addressing the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry, the mayor acknowledged serious allegations within the EMPD and outlined corrective measures:
• Suspending the deputy chief of police,
• A report due in 21 days on 275 officers hired without vetting;
• Reviewing 55 disputed promotions;
• Investigating VIP protection deployments;
• Reinstating the EMPD Media and PR Unit;
• Directly engaging with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate on all active cases.
He said the city “will leave no irregularity unaddressed”.
The mayor reported progress in closing the city’s R2.1b energy revenue shortfall, with R1.4b billed and R365m collected. Cash-on-hand improved from 11 to 15 days, with more than R1.2b currently in the bank.
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Quarter one performance:
• Governance and economic development: 92.5%;
• Social cluster: 86%;
• Infrastructure: 78%;
• Municipal Tariff Structure: 74%.
Service delivery achievements:
Human settlements
• Relocated Plastic City;
• Secured land to relocate the Makause informal settlement;
• Removed 90 shacks from high-voltage servitudes in Duduza North.
Energy
• Electrified 340 Tembisa households;
• Installed prepaid meters at the Delmore Hostels;
• Improve streetlight functionality from below 40% to 78%.
Roads and transport
• Rehabilitated 100km of paved roads;
• Maintained 7 808 stormwater systems;
• Completed Harambee BRT Phase 1A to 85%.
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Waste management
• Procured 20 new waste compactors;
• Intensified anti-dumping awareness under the Clean-Your-Kasi campaign.
Water and sanitation
• Allocated R757m for water infrastructure;
• Completed the Ililiba and Northmead water towers;
• Reduced non-revenue water to 28.94%, the lowest in Gauteng;
• Hosted Africa’s first water and sanitation dialogue.
He also welcomed new city manager Kagiso Lerutla, saying his appointment strengthened the city’s administrative stability.
Investment pipeline grows
The mayor said the city is managing an investment pipeline valued at R47.36b, which includes:
• the R4.32b Bevco bottling plant;
• the R430m investment in the Gauteng Industrial Development Zone Special Economic Zone precinct;
• the Meyersdal Social and Labour Plan tender, expected to generate more than R208m.
He added that 8 170 Expanded Public Works Programme opportunities were created this year.
Community engagement and festive season safety
He said mayoral izimbizos, outreach programmes and the service delivery war room have strengthened direct communication with residents.
For the festive season, 68 new EMPD vehicles will be deployed, including sedans, GTIs and motorcycles.
DA rejects the mayor’s account
The DA dismissed the mayor’s address, saying he was “living in a dream”.
Ekurhuleni DA caucus leader Brandon Pretorius said residents continue to face deteriorating service delivery, and argued that the mayoral outreach programme is “nothing more than a political tour”, saying residents ‘are not feeling it’.
Pretorius said the city’s own statistics showed the top complaints remained prepaid power failures and outages, sewer overflows, single-customer electricity faults and meter leaks.
“These are basics the city should do better,” he said.
