Democratic Alliance Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille has said a DA-led administration would seek an urgent Treasury-backed rescue plan for the embattled city.

Addressing residents at a community meeting hosted by the Melville Residents Association on Tuesday night, Zille said South Africa’s economic hub could still be rebuilt, but added that restoring its finances, infrastructure and governance would require intervention from national institutions, the private sector, and international funders.

Eskom said last month that the city and City Power already owed it R5.255 billion in arrears, excluding a further R1.582 billion current account payment due on 5 June.

Zille said the city’s financial position was far worse than official figures suggested.

“Joburg’s debt is currently 65% of its revenue. And it should never be more than 45% of its revenue. That’s where we are now. And that tells you how shocking the state is,” she said.

She accused the current administration of manipulating financial figures and creating new senior management posts ahead of the elections, saying this was part of a culture of corruption, mismanagement, and “last-lap looting”.

“They made provision for 2,000 more senior managers. They’re already massively top-heavy,” she said.

She said a DA-led administration would immediately bring together strong players to develop a financial rescue plan for the city.

“The first thing we will do is get together in the same space, the Johannesburg task team in the National Treasury, the Joburg recovery plan under Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency, and then I want to bring in the Auditor-General as well,” she said.

She said the city would also need to seek funding from international institutions and expand public-private partnerships to rehabilitate essential services.

“We will then first of all have to get a lot of money from the Presidency and the resource mobilisation group,” she said. “Then we will have to go very quickly into public-private partnerships for all the major trading services,” she said.

Zille said Johannesburg’s recovery would depend on restoring confidence among investors, residents and businesses after years of deterioration in basic services.

“We want to get people who are prepared to invest and grow the economy in Joburg. We want to get them loving Joburg, seeing their future in Joburg. And that will bring 200,000 new jobs to Joburg, we are hoping,” she said.

Residents raised concerns about water outages, electricity disruptions, deteriorating roads, and weak service delivery across the city.

Zille acknowledged that reliable water and electricity would not be restored quickly, even under a DA administration, saying the scale of the collapse meant a turnaround would take years.

“When I say reliable water and electricity for all residents, it sounds as if it should be a given. It should be taken for granted. It isn’t. It’ll take us five years if we push as hard as we can to fulfil that pledge,” she said.

She criticised the current administration’s “inadequate” infrastructure targets, saying Johannesburg’s water network required a far more ambitious pipe-replacement programme.

“They were boasting that their target was to replace 15 kilometres of water pipe and then actually replace 20. They should be replacing nearly 200 kilometres of water pipe a year, given the crisis that they’re facing,” she said.

Zille said Johannesburg’s decline was not limited to finances and engineering systems, but extended to planning, law enforcement and urban management.

On urban planning, she said the city needed responsible densification as more people moved into cities, but added that it should not be done in a way that damaged established residential communities.

“Our cities need to densify because more and more people are urbanising. We cannot have total urban sprawl,” she said.

However, she said suburbs such as Melville were already relatively dense and suggested that future development should focus on larger properties elsewhere in the city.

“Melville is quite a densified suburb to begin with. I wouldn’t actually start anywhere near Melville. I would start in those huge properties that I see in Houghton,” she said.

Housing hijackings and illegal occupation of buildings also emerged as major concerns during the meeting.

Zille said weak enforcement and legal obstacles had contributed to the problem. The city needed to act more firmly against criminal networks operating in the built environment, she said.

“We’ve got to deal with the hijacking of buildings first. That I’m absolutely determined to stop.”

She called for greater use of municipal bylaws and criticised the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department for failing to enforce regulations effectively.

“When I went to speak to the municipal courts, they said to me, ‘We’ve got no cases because the Metro Police never apply the bylaws.’ That’s got to change,” she said.

Zille said organised criminal syndicates had taken advantage of the collapse of municipal systems, pointing to the so-called “water mafia” and other networks that profit when public services fail.

“There are lots of mafias. Everywhere there’s money to be made you’ll find the municipal systems break down and then the service providers have to be brought in from outside.”

She said cable theft and vandalism were major contributors to infrastructure collapse, and that the deterioration of public facilities in areas such as Ennerdale was simply a reflection of overall governance failure.

Zille told residents to become more politically active ahead of the local government elections on 4 November, saying voter turnout would be critical to changing the city’s direction.

“We got in 481,000 people voting for the DA on both ballots. All we need is 9,000 more. Our big task in this election is to get them registered and get them out to vote,” she said.

Drawing comparisons with the DA’s governance record in Cape Town, Zille said Johannesburg’s recovery would require ambitious targets, long-term planning and sustained political will.

“I always, in government, set the most stretched targets I can. In Cape Town between 2021 and now, they’ve attracted 400,000 new jobs,” she said.

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Johannesburg deputy executive mayor Loyiso Masuku has tabled the city’s R90 billion mid-term budget, flagging serious weaknesses in three core trading services while insisting it still provides space for financial recovery.

Tabling the budget on Wednesday during a council sitting, Masuku — who also serves as Joburg’s MMC for finance — said electricity, water and sanitation, and waste management, which are expected to generate significant revenue, have been undermined by structural and operational challenges.

She cited split accountability, declining revenue collection, underinvestment in capital infrastructure, governance failures and institutional fatigue as key drivers of the decline.

“Non-revenue water losses exceed 40%. Electricity distribution losses stand at 27%. The combined infrastructure renewal backlog across Johannesburg Water, City Power and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) exceeds R185 billion,” she said.

“Without meaningful institutional reform, capital investment alone cannot achieve sustainable service delivery.”

Masuku tabled the 2026/27 budget as follows:
• Operating revenue: R90.4 billion
• Operating expenditure: R88.3 billion
• Projected surplus: R2.1 billion (before taxation and capital grants)
• Capital budget: R8.8 billion (R25.3 billion over the medium term)

She said the total budget for the next financial year would amount to R97.1 billion, with key revenue drivers including electricity at R27.8 billion, water and wastewater at R21.5 billion, property rates at R18.8 billion and refuse removal at R3.6 billion.

Masuku outlined the following allocations:
• R28.3 billion for operational expenditure at City Power, with a capital programme of R6.7 billion over the medium term
• R21.6 billion for Johannesburg Water operational expenditure, with R6.4 billion in capital investment over the medium term
• R5.2 billion for waste management, including landfill rehabilitation, fleet reliability, waste diversion and illegal dumping removal
• R1.8 billion for roads and stormwater operations, with R570 million in capital investment for road surfacing, gravel road upgrades and related works
• R7.2 billion for JMPD visibility, by-law enforcement, emergency services, CCTV and the integrated intelligence operations centre, public lighting, urban management, inner-city enforcement and disaster management capacity

“This budget strengthens revenue recovery through the Revenue War Room, enforcement-backed collection, billing credibility improvements, debt collection, Section 118 sales in execution, outdoor advertising enforcement, development contributions, asset optimisation and improved financial controls,” she said.

Masuku said the city’s Debt Relief Programme remained an important intervention for residents genuinely unable to pay, but warned that the municipality could not function if those who could afford to pay refused to do so.

She cautioned that non-payment was crippling service delivery, delaying infrastructure maintenance and ultimately harming poorer communities.

“The social contract is clear: the City must bill correctly, deliver services and respond to complaints — and residents, businesses and government departments that can pay must pay. This is what it means to build Johannesburg together.

“Johannesburg is a microcosm of a South Africa that is riddled with inequality and buckling under pressure — but it remains a city of resilience, work, struggle, ambition and hope,” she said.

She added that the city was finalising development finance linked to energy projects, including a council-approved loan facility from a German state-owned development and promotional bank worth about 200 million euros to support City Power’s infrastructure pipeline.

The city is also in discussions with Eskom over outstanding debt and recovery interventions, with support from national government, SALGA, regulators and financial institutions.

Masuku reminded councillors that the inner city remains the “pulse of Johannesburg”, pointing to a range of revitalisation projects in the pipeline.

These include the Inner-City Eastern Gateway, High Court precinct, Partnership Fund, Walkable Network, rental flat renewal, Florence House, Hillbrow Hospital, Joubert Park, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Jack Mincer Taxi Facility and De Villiers Street upgrades.

“Inner-city spend is distributed across multiple votes towards precinct-based revitalisation, public environment upgrades, building rehabilitation, hijacked building interventions, public lighting, by-law enforcement, informal trading support and partnerships with business and civil society,” she said.

She said the rehabilitation of the inner city required a multi-pronged approach encompassing safety and security, visible policing, governance, investment, housing, transport, culture, cleanliness and economic activation.

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The City of Johannesburg has stepped up its revenue collection drive, saying on Monday that it will carry out more aggressive and frequent service disconnections against government departments and entities that collectively owe about R1.4 billion in unpaid municipal accounts.

On Friday, the city carried out a large-scale disconnection operation in the Johannesburg CBD in partnership with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), Group Finance Revenue officials, City Power, and Johannesburg Water, targeting buildings owned by various government departments and entities.

During the operation, the city disconnected water services and removed a water meter at a multi-storey building on Simmonds Street, owned by the Gauteng provincial government’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department.

The property had accumulated debt of more than R677,000.

The disconnection followed a brief stand-off between private security personnel and the city’s disconnection team, which was supported by JMPD.

A few blocks away on Commissioner Street, the city disconnected electricity to a building housing the Gauteng Department of Health and other provincial departments. It said the Health Department had built up a combined municipal debt of more than R200 million.

“The City cannot continue to supply services to government departments and entities without receiving payment. We have obligations to Eskom and Rand Water, and it is incumbent upon all customers — including government — to honour their accounts. Sustainable service delivery depends on consistent revenue collection,” said Lufuno Mashau, acting group head of Joburg’s Revenue Shared Services Centre.

Mashau said no services would be reconnected to affected properties until satisfactory payment arrangements had been made and a portion of the outstanding debt had been settled.

“These disconnections should serve as a clear warning to all government stakeholders. The City is serious about recovering long-outstanding debt. We will not hesitate to extend this action to other departments — including education, public works, and even court facilities — should non-payment persist,” he said.

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A street traders organisation in Johannesburg has accused the city and metro police of conducting illegal operations and taking part in “extortion” against informal traders.

During a march on Thursday, the Johannesburg Informal Traders Development Powerhouse (JOWEDET) delivered a memorandum to the city, calling for tighter management and regulation of the inner city.

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Better management, JOWEDET said, would address overcrowding and “disorder” in trading precincts.

JOWEDET alleged the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers were demanding permits that had not been issued to informal traders.

The organisation also claimed an extortion syndicate was operating within metro police. It said some officers were demanding thousands of rands from traders in exchange for allowing them to operate, even when valid permits were presented.

“[T]he men and women in uniform betray their oath of office to protect and serve and disgrace the uniform by becoming looters and thieves who serve their own pockets and stomachs,” JOWEDET leader Lulama Mali said.  

The group also accused senior JMPD official Eldred Fortein, who is in charge of by-law enforcement, of failing to engage on “simple matters”, alleging he had “barked and shouted while making racist remarks” about traders.

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 “JMPD is driven by greed. You don’t have pride for our city but are driven by greed,” JOWEDET members said at the march.

“JMPD officials are earning a living through our taxes but oppressing us and taking from the poorest of the poor under the auspices of asking for the unavailable permits.”

Mali said that informal traders, many of whom are breadwinners, were being forced to leave despite holding valid permits.

“JMPD is enforcing bylaws which is false, as we are witnessing a campaign of displacement disguised as bylaw enforcement.”

The City of Johannesburg said it had assessed the concerns raised by trader representatives and maintained that by-law enforcement in the inner city was necessary to restore order, cleanliness and safety.

It said that recent operations had produced measurable improvements.

The city said it had not received a verified list of affected traders, limiting its ability to determine the extent of alleged non-compliance.

The permitting process would continue, it said, which included verification of traders and the rollout of a smartcard permit system.

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JOWEDET has lodged a petition over the “ill-treatment and harassment” of informal traders operating legally in designated spaces, and demanded immediate action from Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero and City Manager Floyd Brink.

Mali said the petition called for the remarking of trading stands and the issuing of permits.

“It is our understanding that trading spaces are regulated in terms of the Business Act, section 71 of 1991, read with the 2012 City of Johannesburg informal trading by-laws, and our approach is to seek collaboration and cooperation with the City in clarifying designated trading areas in line with the City of Johannesburg’s Informal Trading Policy,” Mali said.

“The city has removed our members (traders selling on designated stands from Eloff Street and Von Brandis Street; Eloff Street between Plein St to Jeppe St, etc.) while the City is claiming to be re-allocating trading spaces, and it is our livelihoods.

“Immediate action and decisive leadership is needed to restore the city to its world-class status and order, including clarity on the informal trading sector,” he said.

Mali said JOWEDET had tried to communicate with city leadership through several emails requesting a meeting, calling for an end to the “tolerance of a city” where informal traders were harassed and chased away after operating in legal designated spaces for more than 30 years.

He also alleged that by-laws were not being enforced, contributing to a culture of lawlessness.

He demanded that Morero and Brink hold a proper consultation with informal trader representatives.  

“Johannesburg is at a breaking point, and neglecting the city’s infrastructure and governance will lead to irreversible collapse. The residents of Johannesburg deserve better!” Mali said.

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Angry residents of Midrand, north of Johannesburg, took to the streets on Tuesday to protest the ongoing water crisis that has left some neighbourhoods without supply for nearly a week, forcing households to buy water daily for basic needs.

Residents said taps ran dry last Wednesday, with the hardest-hit areas including Noordwyk, Ivory Park, Ebony Park, Rabie Ridge, Kaalfontein, President Park, Glen Austin and surrounding Midrand suburbs.

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City authorities said the disruptions stem from a sequence of incidents in Rand Water’s bulk supply system over the past week that directly affected Johannesburg Water’s Midrand network.

According to a City of Johannesburg media briefing on Tuesday, Rand Water notified Johannesburg Water on 26 January that emergency repair work was required at the Palmiet Pump Station, requiring isolation and repairs to critical pump infrastructure.

While the work was initially expected to be completed quickly, technical and operational delays prolonged the process, according to the city.

A day later, a power trip at Rand Water’s Zuikerbosch Treatment Plant reduced supply into the Palmiet system by affecting the Eikenhof and Zwartkoppies supply systems, the city said.

It said that although partial pumping capacity was restored, the combined incidents significantly reduced the volume of water fed into the Palmiet system.

The city said a further power failure at the Palmiet Pump Station on 31 January destabilised supply again, leaving critically low levels at the Klipfontein Reservoir, which supplies Johannesburg Water’s Midrand system.

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It added that a leak identified at the Klipfontein Reservoir on 1 February was repaired and commissioning finalised the next day.

As a result, reservoirs including Erand, President Park, Grand Central, Rabie Ridge and Diepsloot were impacted, the city said.

On Monday, Johannesburg Water and Rand Water said supply was beginning to recover, but that reservoir levels were still insufficient for stable distribution across all affected areas.

“There is a slight improvement. Incoming supply to the Erand Reservoir has commenced and reservoir levels are slowly increasing. However, current levels are not yet adequate to allow for sustained supply to dependant areas.”

The city said further improvements were recorded in supply to the Erand, Diepsloot, Rabie Ridge and President Park reservoirs, with outlets opened in a controlled manner to support recovery. Low-lying areas were now receiving water, it said, and supply would progressively extend to higher-lying areas as levels improved.

However, the city said Grand Central Reservoir was still recording limited inflow and remained too low to support sustained supply to all dependent areas.

Residents criticised limited communication, unclear timelines and conflicting information from the municipality and related entities.

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“The impact on residents has been severe, affecting households, schools, healthcare needs, and local businesses, yet meaningful intervention and accurate, timely updates remain absent,” said Midrand resident Nompilo Dlamini.

Johannesburg Water confirmed that some areas in the Erand tower zone had started receiving water, and the utility was expected to meet residents to provide an update.

The city said alternative water supply remained in place through roaming water tankers and would continue until normal supply is fully restored.

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Johannesburg municipal officials have launched a citywide enforcement drive against illegal outdoor advertising, removing unauthorised banners, billboards and advertising trailers that the city says can obstruct roadways and create safety risks.

The compliance operation, underway this week, has focused on public-facing structures erected without the required approvals, including outward-facing signage on private property, billboards and mobile advertising trailers.

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The city said stricter enforcement of its outdoor advertising rules helped lift revenue from lawful advertising to about R50 million in 2025, up from about R5 million in 2024, but that illegal and non-compliant advertising continued to undermine collections.

“Compliance could generate an estimated R300 million annually. This revenue plays a paramount role in sustaining essential municipal services, including electricity, roads, and water,” the city said in a statement.

City Manager Floyd Brink said illegal advertising was not only a regulatory issue but a safety concern. “The illegal outdoor advertising landscape in Johannesburg is not just a compliance issue; it directly affects the safety and well-being of our residents,” Brink said.

“We are committed to enforcing our municipal by-laws and protecting our city’s integrity. This operation is just the beginning of our efforts to restore order and generate vital revenue that our city deserves,” he said.

The city’s latest enforcement push follows a prior high-profile squabble over unauthorised signage during the run-up to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in mid-November.

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At the time, trade union Solidarity erected a large banner along the M1 reading: “Welcome to the most race-regulated country in the world.”

Solidarity said it was part of a G20 public-interest advocacy campaign. The city removed the banner, saying it was installed on city-owned property without an application or approval as required by its outdoor advertising by-laws, and denied that the summit or political pressure played any role in the decision.

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Johannesburg authorities have raided yet another premises on Bryanston Drive as part of their intensified campaign against property hijackings.

Reports confirm city officials raided the premises on Monday morning, with more information to follow.

This comes after Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero confirmed another operation on Thursday.

He said the City of Johannesburg conducted a follow-up compliance operation at a mansion valued at R5.1 million, which had been unlawfully occupied. The property was found to have accumulated more than R1.2 million in unpaid water and electricity bills, despite services having been disconnected in December 2025.

Officials discovered that both water and electricity had been illegally reconnected, prompting swift enforcement action.

During the raid, a man believed to be the ringleader behind the hijacking was arrested.

Authorities also seized suspicious goods from the premises, with investigations now underway to determine the full extent of the criminal activity.

Morero confirmed the operation, noting that the property had previously been inspected when more than 70 people were found living on the premises.

At the time of the visit, approximately 10 occupants remained. These individuals will be processed by the relevant authorities in line with municipal regulations.

“This operation forms part of our ongoing commitment to combat property hijackings, protect municipal revenue, and restore law and order in our city,” Morero said.

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World leaders adopted a 30-page G20 Leaders’ Declaration in Johannesburg on Saturday, marking the first time the summit has been hosted on African soil and placing the continent’s development priorities at the centre of global governance.

Meeting under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” leaders emphasised that their gathering was guided by the principles of Ubuntu, saying the summit recognised that “individual nations cannot thrive in isolation” and that global cooperation must ensure “no one is left behind”.

In the document, leaders warned of “rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability” and “heightened conflicts and wars”.

The leaders also condemned attacks on civilians and infrastructure, saying countries must act in accordance with international law and refrain from the use of force against another state’s sovereignty.

On global peace efforts, the declaration committed members to supporting “a just, comprehensive and lasting peace” in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine and other conflict zones.

The leaders placed the African continent firmly at the centre of the 2025 agenda.

The declaration reaffirmed strong support for Africa’s development, saying the bloc was committed to advancing “economic growth, trade, jobs and prosperity” on the continent.

The declaration also said that Africa’s representation must grow across global institutions.

The summit endorsed the second phase of the Compact with Africa and launched the G20 Finance Track Africa Engagement Framework, which South Africa described as a long-term mechanism to align global finance priorities with African development needs.

Debt vulnerabilities dominated the economic portion of the declaration. Leaders warned that many low-income countries faced high financing costs and rising debt burdens that were constraining development.

They acknowledged that interest payments for low-income countries had “more than doubled over the past decade,” and committed to ensuring that debt treatments under the G20 Common Framework are implemented in a predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner.

The declaration reaffirmed support for a quota-based and well-resourced IMF and welcomed progress in voluntary Special Drawing Rights reallocations, which have now surpassed US $100 billion.

Energy access challenges in Africa were described in urgent terms.

The declaration said that more than 600 million Africans still lack electricity and one billion lack clean cooking options.

Leaders said they were “deeply alarmed” by the health consequences, including the deaths of two million Africans annually due to household air pollution.

They reaffirmed that energy security remains “fundamental to national sovereignty, economic development, stability and global prosperity,” and backed efforts to triple renewable energy capacity and double efficiency gains by 2030. 

The summit also welcomed Mission 300, a global platform aiming to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.

The G20 adopted a new Critical Minerals Framework aimed at ensuring that mineral-rich countries, especially in Africa, derive greater economic benefit from their resources.

The declaration said critical minerals should serve as “a catalyst for value-addition and broad-based development,” rather than merely feeding raw-material export markets.

Leaders also pledged to support industrialisation efforts, saying that manufacturing growth is a critical driver of productivity, job creation and economic resilience.

With global hunger persisting, leaders said that food is “at the heart of human life” and that political will is essential to achieve food security.

They committed to implementing the Ubuntu Approaches on Food Security and Nutrition, which aim to mitigate the effects of excessive food price volatility.

On climate change, the G20 acknowledged “the urgency and seriousness” of the crisis and reaffirmed commitment to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°C.

Leaders emphasised that the impacts of climate change “will be much lower” at 1.5°C compared with 2°C and called for rapid and sustained emissions reductions.

Developing countries’ climate finance needs were highlighted, with the declaration estimating they require up to US$5.9 trillion before 2030 to meet their commitments.

Marking the United Nation’s (UN) 80th anniversary, the declaration reaffirmed the G20’s commitment to strengthening multilateralism and backed a transformative reform of the UN Security Council. 

Leaders said reform must make the Council “more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable,” including greater representation for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

The G20 reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality and said it remains dedicated to eliminating gender-based violence. The declaration confirmed the adoption of the Nelson Mandela Bay Target to reduce the share of young people not in employment, education or training by 5% by 2030.

Leaders also endorsed renewed commitments to narrow the gender labour-force participation gap and pledged to work towards reducing the gender wage gap.

The G20 reaffirmed its Artificial Intelligence (AI) principles and committed to ensuring that AI is developed and deployed safely and responsibly.

Leaders emphasised the need to protect human rights, transparency and accountability in AI governance, and welcomed the AI for Africa initiative designed to strengthen AI capabilities, skills and infrastructure on the continent.

The declaration closed by reaffirming the G20’s unity and purpose, stating that the group remains “the premier forum for international economic cooperation”.  

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The Johannesburg Bomb Squad (JBS), which will tackle lawlessness, urban decay and the service delivery backlog, was launched in the metro on Thursday.

It follows commitments made by Mayor Dada Morero in his State of the City Address last month.

Speaking during the launch at the Soweto Hote in Kliptown, Morero told reporters that the unit aimed would also help enforce by-laws and restore order across the metro as part of a broader push to improve urban management and responsiveness to community needs.

He said business intelligence gathering would be at the core of the work of the JBS.

“This will be executed by having meetings with the relevant parties/authorities to isolate areas of potential land and or building invasions and to propose proactive intervention,” the mayor added.

The unit would focus on removing barriers that stalled the city’s progress and delayed the fulfilment of its long-term development goals.

Integrated into the recently established Johannesburg Presidential Support Group, the team is designed to enhance coordination, avoid overlapping and ensure high-impact interventions.

According to Morero, the JBS would play a central role in driving the revitalisation and transformation of Johannesburg’s urban landscape.

“The objective will be to activate rapid response teams in response to reported service delivery hotspots, to be the eyes and ears of the executive mayor, to activate rapid interventions to address lawlessness in the city and to execute of a minimum programme of (the) high impact visibility programme,” Morero said.

The JBS’s operations will be guided by a precinct-based approach, targeting specific areas across Johannesburg for focused and coordinated intervention.

Morero said that a tailored implementation plan was being developed to ensure this strategy was effectively rolled out. This would ensure a measurable impact in revitalising urban spaces and addressing service delivery challenges at the local level.

“It will also be necessary for the bomb squad to develop appropriate interaction mechanisms with the city’s service delivery war room,” he added.

The JBS began operating at the start of the month under the leadership of African National Congress Veterans’ League president Snuki Zikalala. This initiative will be supported by the city’s project management office and former executive members.

The mayor said that operational and logistical support for the team would be provided through the office of the operating office to ensure streamlined coordination and effective execution of its mandate.

Morero further said that the success of the JBS would depend on adequate financial support. He called on all sectors to partner with the city to ensure the unit’s effectiveness, emphasising that collaborative efforts were essential to empowering the squad to deliver meaningful change.

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