Johannesburg’s deepening service delivery failures took centre stage at the Joburg Crisis Alliance’s (JCA) 8th Summit on December 6, where civil society leaders warned that the city can no longer avoid accountability as the 2026 local elections approach.

Held at Greenside High School, the summit drew a packed hall of residents’ groups, civic organisations and activists united by a shared urgency to ‘save Joburg’ from worsening water outages, corruption concerns and stalled infrastructure repairs.

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JCA coordinator Yunus Chamda outlined the alliance’s progress this year, saying its work continues to centre on five major campaigns: ethical leadership, improved service delivery, community activism, anti-corruption efforts and long-term visioning for Johannesburg’s future.

He said the alliance plans to draft a ‘City Charter’ early next year, capturing residents’ expectations for political parties to commit to before the elections.

Neeshan Balton from JCA and executive director of the Ahmed Kathrada foundation, warned that divisions within communities and political tensions must not undermine efforts to fix the city. “This is the moment to stand together,” he said.

The sharpest assessment came from WaterCAN’s Dr Ferrial Adam, who detailed widespread failures in Johannesburg’s water system and accused the city of repeatedly avoiding critical questions.

She said civil society had secured important progress, including wider recognition of the need to ring-fence the water and sanitation budget, but warned that the city’s unwillingness to explain the diverted R4b Joburg Water allocation remained deeply concerning.

Adam highlighted delayed infrastructure upgrades, including the Brixton Reservoir and the Hursthill pump station, where unpaid contractors have left work unfinished. She said this failure directly contributes to repeated outages across central and western Johannesburg.

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She also raised alarms about tanker irregularities, saying civil society had uncovered instances of tankers filling up at car washes and millions of rands being spent on companies with no tanker records.

“We cannot fix the system if money keeps disappearing before it reaches the pipes,” she said.

With water outages already affecting areas from Greenside to Soweto, Adam said 2026 must be the year residents place water at the centre of political accountability. “Our mission is simple: water must be the number one election issue,” she said.

The JCA will reconvene in January to refine its 2026 strategy, continue building activist networks in communities and prepare for public election debates focusing on service delivery, governance and water security.

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