Gert Swanepoel, known to his friends as Swannie, has worn many guises throughout his colourful life, but it is his latest incarnation as the Gauteng Guru that is fast turning him into a household name.

Swannie started his professional life as an electrician for the local municipality many years ago. He went on to further his studies and work in the field of engineering.

A personal tragedy later in life drove him to seek refuge in his faith, and he became a missionary, travelling the world to spread the Word of God, sometimes at great risk to himself.

“In some countries, it is illegal to preach Christianity, but we never let that stop us. We even had several close calls smuggling Bibles into some countries where they are illegal,” he says.

@caxton.jhbwest TikTok sensation Gauteng Guru, who made his name raising awareness of service delivery failures throughout the province, on a walkabout with Roodepoort Record. #fyp #servicedelivery #gautengguru #cityofjohannesburg ♬ original sound – Caxton JHB West 

Since returning full-time to South Africa, he has owned a number of businesses, but always felt like something was missing.

He found his calling one morning in the Roodepoort CBD when he noticed a large amount of water leaking through the wall at the underground pedestrian tunnel at Roodepoort train station.

“I went back a few times to check, and the leak just kept getting worse. When I questioned people there, they told me this water has been running like this for years. That’s when I made my first video.”

Swannie has never looked back, and thousands of people now tune into his ‘howzit, Gauteng Guru here’ greeting on his videos.

“The idea is not to get people in trouble,” he says. “It is about getting the issues that I highlight attended to. I choose service delivery failures where the community or the environment is negatively impacted to get the relevant entities to do something about it.”

Not one to sit still for very long, Swannie took the Roodepoort Record on a short tour, showing some of the most pressing service delivery failures that he’s discovered.

At the Hamberg Dam, Swannie pointed out a number of sewage leaks flowing into the dam from various sources.

“Things like this really get to me,” he says, adding, “I grew up in the area and I remember having such a fun childhood playing and camping and fishing by local lakes. Today, I’d be surprised if there’s anything left alive in the dam.”

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