Across Gauteng, communities are buckling under the weight of failed service delivery, decaying infrastructure, and political inertia, says the writer.
Image: Oupa Mokoena Independent Newspapers
Funzi Ngoben iActionSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson.
Image: Supplied
Gauteng, the economic engine of South Africa, is facing a silent but devastating crisis: the collapse of municipal governance.
Across the province, communities are buckling under the weight of failed service delivery, decaying infrastructure, and political inertia.
What makes this crisis even more intolerable is the quiet complicity of a provincial government that appears more interested in managing optics than restoring functionality.
The facts are indisputable. According to the Auditor-General’s 2021/22 report, only one out of nine municipalities in Gauteng - Midvaal - achieved a clean audit. This is not just a technocratic failure; it represents a direct assault on the quality of life for millions of residents who rely on functioning local government for water, electricity, safety and dignity.
Take Emfuleni, where the latest in a string of mayors was removed amid ongoing allegations of mismanagement. The municipality is in financial ruin, with failing infrastructure and service delivery breakdowns now the norm. In Rand West City, incomplete housing and water infrastructure projects lie abandoned, betraying communities who were promised progress but received only negligence.
Even Johannesburg, once the pride of the province, is in a state of disrepair. A city where over R70 million is needed just to fix dysfunctional traffic lights, where residents endure rolling power outages due to crumbling infrastructure, and where burst water pipes leave households dry for days. These are not isolated events; they are the cumulative result of years of governance failure.
In Merafong, dolomitic sinkholes have become a daily threat to property and life, made worse by the municipality’s failure to implement proactive risk mitigation strategies. In Mogale City, sewage spills and overflowing riverbanks are not only degrading the environment but also crippling local agriculture and tourism, two key pillars of the local economy.
And yet, the Gauteng provincial government watches in silence. Their responses where they exist have been slow, reactive and piecemeal. They issue statements, shuffle portfolios, and promise “support,” but they have consistently failed to use the powers granted to them under Section 139 of the Constitution, which allows for meaningful intervention when a municipality fails to fulfil its executive obligations.
The constitutional obligation is clear: the provincial government must intervene when municipalities collapse. Why then does it hesitate? Is it fear of political fallout? Is it reluctance to expose the extent of ANC-led local government decay? Whatever the reason, the cost is being borne by residents in their pockets, in their health, and in their hopes for a better future.
The consequences are staggering. Businesses lose productivity, investors take flight, and communities are forced to pay for private waste collection, water delivery, and security — all while still being taxed. This situation is unjust, unsustainable, and entirely avoidable.
What Gauteng needs is not more rhetoric, but decisive leadership. The provincial government must:
The people of Gauteng contribute significantly to our national economy, yet they are being failed by local governments that no longer serve them and a provincial leadership unwilling to act.
We cannot allow this silent crisis to erode the promise of a prosperous Gauteng. The provincial government must rise to its constitutional duty and intervene not for politics, but for the people.
The time for watching is over. The time for action is now.
Funzi Ngobeni
ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson