By Akani Nkuna
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Public Protector to investigate what it describes as systemic maladministration in the City of Johannesburg, arguing that persistent governance failures, deteriorating municipal infrastructure and weak accountability have severely undermined service delivery.
Speaking during a media briefing in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, on Friday, DA Federal Leader and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said years of political neglect, irregular expenditure and inadequate infrastructure maintenance had left residents and businesses bearing the consequences.
“Firstly, what I have seen here today is absolutely shocking. I also know that it is fixable. What we have seen here today is caused by years of neglect, failure to prioritise investment in basic infrastructure and failure to spend money properly,” he said.
“The consequences are plain for all to see, and not just in the smell and the huge river of sewage that we saw, but also the consequences for jobs. You heard Mr Mabenzo, from his own mouth, say how impossible it is to run a business in these conditions.”
The DA held the briefing at the workshop of a local business owner in Eldorado Park, where a sewage spill has reportedly been flowing for more than a year. The party said it chose the venue to highlight the impact of failing infrastructure on businesses, economic activity and residents’ quality of life.
The workshop owner, a mechanic known as “Mr Mabenzo”, said the persistent sewage spill and foul odour had driven customers away, forcing him to retrench employees. He added that several nearby businesses had shut down because of the deteriorating conditions.
“It is not unusual for infrastructure to break. So the remarkable thing here is not that the infrastructure is broken. The truly remarkable, disgraceful and unacceptable thing is that there is no plan to maintain it, to fix it or to upgrade it — not for months or even a year, but for years and years,” Hill-Lewis said.
He contrasted Johannesburg’s situation with Cape Town, saying the city had invested R17 billion in sewer infrastructure upgrades and maintenance since the DA took office. He argued that stronger political leadership and sound financial management could reverse Johannesburg’s infrastructure decline.
Hill-Lewis also called for stricter accountability and consequence management, saying authorities should investigate how funds allocated for infrastructure maintenance had been spent, both at the Eldorado Park site and across the metro.
Meanwhile, DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille said the city’s infrastructure crisis was the result of entrenched corruption and criminal networks operating within government.
“Joburg is an interlocking network of criminal syndicates parading as a government. That is what it is. And the syndicates are linked to the different factions in the ANC. They all fight each other for access. That is the mess. That is the consequence of the way people have voted in Joburg for 30 years,” she said.
Zille said addressing Johannesburg’s water and sanitation challenges would be the DA’s top priority ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
She acknowledged that securing an outright majority would be difficult but said the party would pursue coalition options if necessary.
“So it is the voter’s choice, and they must make up their mind if they want to rescue Joburg or not. If we do not get to 50% plus one, which will be a stretch and very, very difficult, we will look at the options and we will take the least bad option. They will all be bad, but we will take the least bad one,” she said.
