Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has once again dismissed claims that the recent increase in service delivery activity across the city is nothing more than a cosmetic clean-up ahead of the G20 Summit, saying the real test of his administration’s commitment will come after world leaders leave.
“It’s simple, check us on Tuesday. If you are not on the ground on Tuesday then it means we are doing it for the G20,” Morero told reporters.
Morero said the city had the capacity to sustain improvements but management blockages previously slowed progress.
He added that political alignment in the mayoral committee had unlocked long-awaited momentum.
“Part of the problem, I’ve always said, is a management issue. So deal with that, and that is why we’re beginning to see results,” he said.
“Political stability ensures the level of your mayoral committee. You’ve got stability and all of us are focused on one objective, on one job, and that is why we are seeing the results now,” he said.
Morero said the city only began seeing real progress mid-year.
“It took a long time ... from November to around June, to set up the systems. Now we are seeing the results that we want. They are still not really where we want them to be. There are still issues that I still have to address internally to get management and supervision to happen.”
Responding on X to questions about whether the improvements would continue after the G20, Morero wrote: “I do not sleep. I do not intend to do so until we reclaim Johannesburg.”
In the weeks leading up to the G20 summit, Morero and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi faced criticism for the sudden fixing of long-standing service delivery failures from potholes and broken traffic lights to dark streets and uncollected litter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa flagged service delivery failures during a recent visit.
Lesufi, however, denied that the work was rushed or superficial, insisting the province had been preparing “intensively for months”.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to ensure that we fix the street lights, the traffic lights, fill the potholes and attend to issues that need to be attended to,” Lesufi said.
Lesufi said weekly meetings with national ministers and the provincial executive had pushed progress and that these would continue after the summit.
“We’ve long agreed together with the ministers even after the G20 that those meetings will continue … so that we can continue to attend to some of the areas,” said Lesufi
International relations minister Ronald Lamola echoed this, saying major events often help turn the tide.
“It does show that sometimes you do need events to turn the situation around … They can only sustain it moving beyond this point,” he said.
The DA has rejected the positive framing, accusing the provincial government of staging a temporary clean-up for the G20 while residents continue to face chronic service failures.
“Premier Lesufi’s announcement that the City of Johannesburg’s water and electricity supply will remain secure and uninterrupted throughout the G20 Summit is a slap in the face of many residents who are facing severe service delivery issues,” said DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga.
He accused the premier of prioritising international optics over residents’ needs.
“This is an insult to the people of Gauteng and clearly demonstrates that Lesufi would rather stage a cover-up before the world than focus on fixing our infrastructure to serve residents who are being denied access to the most basic services, despite paying their utility bills.”
TimesLIVE
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