Rejuvenation required: Moth House is just one of a number of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg’s city centre where people live because of the shortage of housing. President Cyril Ramaphosa has suggested using the Expropriation Act to reclaim these buildings for redevelopment. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy
President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed calls to place the City of Johannesburg under administration to tackle its governance issues. This raises the question: what will it take to get Johannesburg on the right track?
While answering parliamentary questions on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said he was in discussions with various stakeholders, including banks, in the financial capital to find solutions that will turn around service delivery in the city similar to reforms done in the eThekwini metro municipality.
Johannesburg has multiple crises — water shortages, a housing deficit, crumbling infrastructure and ongoing billing issues. Statistics South Africa reports 4.8 million residents, while the City of Johannesburg says the number is closer to six million.
With the largest budget of any metropolitan municipality in South Africa, standing at R83.1 billion, the city has failed to maintain critical infrastructure and ensure community safety.
A more pressing issue for Johannesburg is the growing problem of urban migration. Every year, thousands of young people — both those who pass matric and those who don’t — flock to the city in search of opportunities. They are joined by adults leaving rural areas and small towns in pursuit of jobs. The influx of undocumented immigrants further strains the city’s resources.
Recently the city could not pass the 2025 adjustment budget because political parties clashed over the city’s financial projections, amid operation budget cuts, an unrealistic R2 billion revenue collection target and a disputed R5 billion surplus.
With a capital expenditure budget of R7.6 billion, Johannesburg is characterised by decaying legacy buildings and leaking water infrastructure. The city reported 181 informal settlements in 2017, escalating to 312 in 2022 — an increase of 131 informal settlements in a period of five years.
With the mayoral revolving door having seen 10 mayors enter in nine years, investor confidence will continue to remain low as a result of governance instability.
Despite the city’s proximity to the Vaal Dam, which now sits at more than 100% capacity, residents experience water-shedding.
An estimated 48% of non-revenue water is lost through leaking pipes.
A more worrying trend is Johannesburg’s R11.1 billion irregular expenditure, where procurement fraud and bulk purchases have diverted funds from essential projects. This reckless handling of municipal finances perpetuates a cycle of underdevelopment.
Johannesburg’s complex problems require more than just leaders who are fluent at describing the problem or criticising the ANC. A bold, sustainable plan for the city and leaders committed to building an alternative vision is required.
With the local government elections around the corner, there will be a fierce battle to take control of the country’s economic hub. Will it be another election of merely replacing the old guard with newer and younger faces? Will residents be subjected to more lost years of temporary solutions geared towards media attention?
Established in 1886 as a gold mining settlement, Johannesburg has grown through many changes to become an insecure urban spatial reality. What the city needs is a comprehensive policy that will simultaneously tackle informality, low skilled labour and ageing infrastructure.
What does the City of Johannesburg look like beyond informal development and urban decay? What is the city’s economic model to build resilience and sustainable growth? What will communities look like and what standards of living await Johannesburg’s residents after enacting integrated development?
When the hijacked Usindiso building caught fire in 2023, a commission of inquiry found that half of the 400 residents were South African, while the other half were foreign nationals from Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
This finding challenges the notion that hijacked buildings are occupied primarily by foreigners.
In reality, many South Africans rely on these spaces for shelter and cannot simply be evicted.
Revitalising Johannesburg’s inner city will only succeed if residents are actively involved in the rebuilding process, rather than being displaced.
To highlight the importance of community approval, Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and the member of the mayoral committee for public safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, have been leading an initiative to rejuvenate the inner city by enforcing municipal by-laws.
The operation focused on cracking down on illegal street trading and unregistered vendors in the city centre and Hillbrow. Johannesburg metro police removed stalls and blocked access to hijacked buildings, but by the next day, illegal traders had returned and the streets were bustling once again.
As Johannesburg seeks to remain the host of the G20, Ramaphosa visited the city council and announced a task team to tackle service delivery and the proposed Johannesburg Accords. He has also expressed approval for the use of the Expropriation Act to reclaim hijacked buildings for redevelopment.
But will these efforts bring real change, or will they be yet another set of cosmetic reforms such as those implemented before the 2010 Fifa World Cup?
The future of Johannesburg depends on bold leadership, sustainable urban planning and policies that prioritise people over politics. It will take more than promises — it will take sustained action beyond international events.
Nkateko Mabasa is a writer, climate advocate and policy analyst.
