Ekurhuleni executive mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has vowed to fix service delivery in the metro, deliver housing and boost the city’s coffers as local elections loom.
South Africa is scheduled for local government elections by end-January 2027, and dealing with widespread municipal dysfunction has become a big issue for voters.
Speaking in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, on Wednesday, Xhakaza said the three financial years to 2023/24 “will, without exaggeration, be remembered as the barren years — a period marked by systemic distress and institutional decline which almost collapsed service delivery in the city”.
DA caucus leader Tania Campbell served as Ekurhuleni mayor from 2021 until she was removed after a vote of no confidence in March 2023. She was succeeded by African Independent Congress councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana, who was removed from office in March 2024. Xhakaza was elected as mayor in April 2024.
Xhakaza said his administration has sought to reverse declines by addressing severe revenue shortfalls, grave governance lapses, service delivery regression, erosion of public trust, and a decline in local economic activity.
Ekurhuleni continues to be blighted by poor service delivery, vandalism of traffic lights, cable theft, unemployment, corruption and weak revenue collection, resulting in the city writing off R2.4bn of its debtors’ book as households struggle to pay municipal accounts.
Ekurhuleni is SA’s manufacturing heartland, with a population of about 4-million. Senior municipal staff have been accused of numerous wrongdoings at the Madlanga commission of inquiry into corruption of the criminal justice system.
DA mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane has pledged to address many issues should she be elected as the next city mayor.
She said the DA would ensure a reliable water supply, stabilise electricity infrastructure, provide reliable refuse collection and fix pot-holed roads.
The local government sector remains dogged by fruitless, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure amounting to billions of rand, fraud and corruption, poor service delivery and a dearth of competent, skilled personnel at decision-making and management levels.
The National Treasury has launched a R54bn performance-based incentive that will provide cash to fix water, electricity and waste management services on condition the country’s eight metros ringfence revenue from those services in professionally run utilities.
New leaf
Xhakaza said the metro has turned the corner and its finances are now stable.
“In the second quarter, our total revenue stood at R34.542bn, compared with a budgeted R34.311bn, a positive variance of R231m. The city’s cash on hand has improved and is currently sitting on 19 days,” he said.
“Our bank balance has also increased to over R2.1bn … from R512m in the first quarter. Furthermore, our investment balances have seen a remarkable increase from R372m to R439m.”
Road rehabilitation has been allocated an additional R40m, while repairs to traffic lights over the next three months were allocated R12.5m more.
Xhakaza said the city spends R120m fixing traffic lights annually due to vehicle accidents and “deliberate third-party vandalism including theft”.
He said the metro has delivered 2,980 houses since the beginning of his term in April 2024, “and we are finishing the construction of 839 more houses, which should be ready in June”.
A further 300 homes are expected to be handed over by the end of the current financial year. “We are going to be busy over the next three months, giving houses to our people, until November. We will continue to talk less and act more,” Xhakaza said.
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