Councillors reveal Johannesburg’s struggles
While the mayor highlighted billion-rand projects in his recent speech, councillors from Region B spoke on the stark reality of failing infrastructure and scarce services facing their communities every day.
While Mayor Sello Dada Morero’s State of the City Address (Soca) painted a picture of billion-rand housing projects, ambitious digital initiatives, and presidential support, councillors from Johannesburg’s Region B argue that the speech largely ignored the harsh realities faced by their communities.
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Ward 98 councillor Beverley Jacobs and Ward 88 councillor Nicolene Jonker spoke on the disconnect between the mayor’s promises and the everyday struggles of residents in their wards, stating their firsthand knowledge of the city’s urgent challenges.
In Ward 98, Jacobs said ageing infrastructure had overwhelmed municipal services, and JMPD, Johannesburg Water (JW), and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) remained under-resourced.
Jacobs highlighted the urgency of these issues, noting that some neighbourhoods were enduring weeks of raw sewage flowing through the streets – an unacceptable crisis that went completely unmentioned in the mayor’s address.
“While the Mayor delivered a ‘pie in the sky’ vision, it was completely out of touch with the realities on the ground,” said Jacobs. She called for accountability, transparency, and a municipality that worked for all residents, voicing her commitment to fighting for a service-driven government.
“Ward 98 deserves better, and I will not stop until it gets the service and respect it is owed.”
Also read: WATCH: Water crisis sparks service delivery protests in Westdene
Meanwhile, in Ward 88, Jonker shared the same frustrations over the mayor’s failure to address key service delivery issues such as electricity supply, water pressure, ageing infrastructure, and ineffective by-law enforcement. “We are taxed to death, and the mayor is performing PR games with make-believe billions,” Jonker stated. She urged responsible leadership, fiscal discipline, and delivery with integrity.
Jonker voiced the troubling legacy of the previous ANC-led coalition, which allegedly wasted R4b in irregular and fruitless expenditure coupled with mismanagement. With no one held accountable, trusting the same leadership with additional funds was a difficult ask for many residents.
According to Jonker, while Morero admitted the city was financially broke, he announced funding for more than 20 large-scale projects, including a R4b sewage plant and a R1.3b mining belt plan.
With the billions being bandied about, the councillors’ insight into communities’ daily struggles raises the true state of the city.
“The difference it makes to have councillors who stand up for you in the toughest times cannot be overstated,” Jonker concluded.\
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