Crumbling infrastructure including the ageing power grid and poor water and road networks are some of the challenges confronting new Johannesburg mayor Jolidee Matongo who was elected, unopposed, into the hot seat last week.
Matongo, who replaced Geoff Makhubo who succumbed to Covid-19 complications on July 9, called on all represented political parties in the council to put their differences aside and deliver services to the city’s 5-million residents.
In recent years the city has been plagued by a billing crisis which resulted in late bills, incorrect billing, lost credit notes, non-corresponding meter numbers and other inaccuracies.
The municipality has been beset with multiple challenges in delivering basic services to residents, particularly in recent months.
In May the metro sought help from the private sector to repair close to 50,000 potholes, and in June was hit by a water outage that affected hospitals and threatened businesses.
In July the city’s water and sanitation tariffs increased 6.8%, the refuse tariff rose 4.3%, while the electricity tariff rose 14.59%, reflecting higher prices by supplier Eskom, which recently secured a 15.09% hike from the National Energy Regulator of SA.
The metro, which passed a budget of R73.3bn for the 2021/2022 financial year, collected revenue of R42.27bn during the 2019/2020 financial year. Estimated revenue collection for 2021/2022 — which started on July 1 — is R46.18bn.
DA caucus leader Leah Knott, in an open letter to Matongo recently, said the official opposition in the council “will be holding you and your MMCs to account for delivering quality services to residents. I appreciate that you acknowledge that the city has let down residents over the past year, and we’re happy to work together to turn this around.”
Knott told Business Day there was a R200bn infrastructure backlog in the metro.
“We need a clear commitment from the city to increase capital spending on investing in our crumbling power grid, water network, roads, and bridges,” she said and noted that the turnaround time for attending to burst water pipes is 48 hours, while the power crisis is worsening as City Power seems unable to spend its budget or deploy equipped teams out on the ground.
Knott said the areas of Mulbarton and Wemmer Pan experienced power outages on a weekly basis, while Klipfontein spends “half the month in darkness and regional depots still don’t have parts or equipment to make proper repairs or replace old mini sub-stations”. The metro needed to install CCTV cameras and alarms at its substations, she said.
Knott called for accountability over “R700m lost on Covid-19 corruption”, which is now the subject of an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
“We have yet to receive a comprehensive and detailed report in council since the start of lockdown, along with details of the action taken against officials responsible, and the status of the city’s own forensic investigation along with the SIU investigation.”
The new mayor needed to “tour” suburbs like Malvern to see the “burnt-out shells of businesses” that were destroyed during the recent violent unrest after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, said Knott.
“Joburg needs strong action to realise its potential and continue to be the leading centre of our country’s economy. Residents must get the quality services that they deserve, and must feel safe in their homes and businesses. We are happy to work with you to achieve this,” she said.
When contacted for comment at the weekend, Matongo said his administration would attend to all the issues Knott had raised.
The mayor would not say how the issues would be addressed, saying: “I do not want to let the cat out of the bag on the plans.”
Meanwhile, on complaints from the public regarding the availability of slots for online booking at the city’s driving licensing testing centres, Matongo said he was aware of “a few” complaints.
Ridhwaan Suliman, a senior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), posted on social media at the weekend: “Has anyone actually been able to book an appointment for driving licence card renewal through the eNatis system? I’ve tried every day for many weeks now, but 90% of the time there are no slots available. On the few occasions there were, the centres were much too far away.”
Matongo said people should not be experiencing these challenges at all. “We will attend to this ASAP. If it means we must increase the capacity at these centres, we will do so.”
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