By Thapelo Molefe
Joburg mayor Dada Morero on Wednesday defended the city’s performance and economic position, insisting Johannesburg “has not collapsed” despite worsening service delivery failures, infrastructure backlogs and growing financial pressure.
Delivering the 2026 State of the City Address at St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, Morero said the metro remained the heartbeat of South Africa and Africa’s economy despite ongoing challenges facing the metro.
“Every time I hear someone say that Johannesburg remains Africa’s richest City, it warms my heart,” Morero said.
“It means we have not collapsed; we must be doing something right.”
The mayor’s remarks come as Johannesburg faces mounting criticism over water shortages, electricity outages, potholes, deteriorating infrastructure and financial instability.
Recent protests over water disruptions have triggered intervention from National Treasury, while Eskom has threatened to reduce or interrupt electricity supply to some bulk supply points over debt reportedly amounting to R5.2 billion.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has also raised concerns over the city’s finances and controversial wage agreements.
Despite the challenges, Morero said Johannesburg continued to deliver essential services to most residents.
“Evidence tells us that 99.3% of residents of Johannesburg receive water,” he said.
“96% of Joburg residents receive sanitation services, 92% of residents receive electricity for lighting and 87% of residents receive refuse removal services.”
Morero also compared Johannesburg’s economic performance to Cape Town, saying the city had shown greater labour market resilience despite population pressures.
“Our working-age population grew by 14 000 people, compared with 11 000 in Cape Town,” Morero said.
“Even with that added pressure, we recorded net employment growth of 23 000 people, while Cape Town recorded an employment decline of 33 000 people over the same period.”
He said Johannesburg’s unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage points, compared to Cape Town’s 1.6 percentage point increase.
Morero also defended the city’s public healthcare system, saying fewer Johannesburg residents relied on private medical aid schemes compared to Cape Town.
“This demonstrates that the majority of our residents have not checked out of our healthcare systems,” he said.
“Joburg remains the primary healthcare choice. This is a signal that indeed our foundation is solid.”
The mayor said Johannesburg contributes 15% to South Africa’s gross domestic product and remained under demographic and economic pressure as more people continued moving to the city.
He acknowledged the city’s worsening financial strain and said the metro was taking urgent steps to stabilise its finances.
“As part of our immediate steps to stabilise our finances, the city will dispose of its non-strategic assets,” Morero said.
He said the city planned to sell portions of vacant land in its debtors’ book valued at R3.2 billion.
Morero said the city had inherited a “broke city” in 2019 but had since adopted a fully funded R89.4 billion budget for the 2025/26 financial year and achieved a debt-to-revenue ratio target of 30%.
He also called on National Treasury, the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate the city’s finances.
Addressing Eskom’s notice threatening power interruptions, Morero said the city was working to resolve the dispute.
“We are concerned about Eskom’s latest notice, and we are taking it seriously,” he said.
“We will not fight Eskom. We will work with the Minister of Electricity and Energy, and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to resolve this challenge.”
The mayor said City Power had implemented a turnaround plan aimed at improving governance, financial sustainability and operational efficiency.
He also revealed that the city was finalising a €200 million loan agreement with German development bank KfW to fund energy infrastructure projects.
Morero acknowledged the scale of Johannesburg’s infrastructure crisis, saying the city faced a combined infrastructure backlog of more than R220 billion.
He said water losses stood at 44.7% while electricity losses were at 27.1%.
The mayor said turnaround plans were being implemented to improve water security, energy supply, road infrastructure and waste management.
Morero also defended the city’s service delivery interventions, including the “Bomb Squad” programme, which he said had dramatically improved response times to water and electricity outages.
He said the programme had processed 724 service delivery cases and achieved an 86% resolution rate within six weeks.
“The Bomb Squad has dramatically transformed service delivery processes across the city,” Morero said.
The mayor said investor confidence in Johannesburg was improving, with the city attracting R26.6 billion in investments and implementing infrastructure and development projects worth R73 billion.
“Our collective action and willingness to work together is bearing fruits,” he said.
“Investor confidence is growing.”
Projects highlighted during the speech included Microsoft’s R5.4 billion data centre investment, the Southern Farms Mega City development and the Midrand Bulk Water Storage Facility.
The speech comes amid growing criticism over executive salaries at municipal entities, including the Johannesburg Property Company, where reports of proposed multimillion-rand salary increases have sparked public debate over spending priorities and governance.
However, residents across Johannesburg continue to complain about frequent power outages, burst pipes, water shortages, uncollected refuse and poor road conditions.
Despite the ongoing challenges, Morero insisted the city was laying “the foundation for the future” and remained committed to becoming “a world-class African city of the future”.
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