City of Joburg exposes its own long-neglected structural failures

Johannesburg’s decision to quietly divert R4bn from its already overstretched capital expenditure budget to prevent labour unrest during the G20 summit reveals a city government caught between political urgency and long-neglected structural failures.

The move may ensure a smooth gathering under the world’s gaze, but it comes at a steep price for residents who already endure failing infrastructure, unreliable water supply and deteriorating roads. This is the cost of governing by crisis instead of by principle.

The tensions with the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) did not arise overnight. For years Johannesburg’s municipal workers have been paid below the level of their counterparts in other major metros. A benchmark study as far back as 2016 confirmed that disparity.

Instead of addressing it through a phased, transparent plan, the city allowed the issue to fester. Workers grew resentful as promises went unfulfilled and implementation stalled. Those frustrations eventually hardened into threats of shutting down Gauteng’s highways on the eve of a major international summit.

When a city’s own employees believe the only way to be heard is to risk national embarrassment, it signals a profound breakdown in trust.

Mayor Dada Morero’s administration insists the settlement is anchored in responsible financial planning, with structured payouts over the next three years and reference to public finance laws. Yet no amount of procedural compliance can disguise the immediate reality: money originally ring-fenced for core infrastructure has been repurposed to neutralise a political headache.

Johannesburg Water and the Johannesburg Roads Agency are already battling staggering backlogs. Burst pipes, collapsing reservoirs and impassable roads have become defining features of daily life. Diverting billions away from those departments is not merely an accounting exercise, it is a setback that residents will feel in dry taps, prolonged outages and streets left to crumble.

Critics, including opposition leaders, argue that this decision reflects poor prioritisation and a lack of long-term strategic thinking.

Residents deserve better than a city that trades tomorrow’s stability for today’s relief

They note that the city has faced widespread water-related protests, which should have forced infrastructure to the top of the agenda. Instead the leadership responded to the most immediate threat, which happened to be Samwu’s ultimatum rather than the needs of ordinary residents. It is a reactive style of governance that prioritises short-term calm over lasting stability.

Governance experts describe the standoff as an act of desperation on both sides. Workers resorted to extreme pressure because years of slow progress left them doubtful the city would ever meet its obligations. The city acted out of fear that the G20 summit would collapse into chaos.

Neither position suggests confidence in the city’s long-term vision. While the settlement may prevent disorder this week, it does nothing to resolve the underlying weaknesses that made the showdown possible.

Johannesburg needed a comprehensive plan that honoured overdue commitments to workers while safeguarding the essential infrastructure on which millions rely. Instead it delivered a hurried compromise shaped by political optics and external pressure.

Residents deserve better than a city that trades tomorrow’s stability for today’s relief. Until Johannesburg confronts its financial mismanagement and sets clear priorities rooted in service delivery, it will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, patching holes while deeper cracks spread beneath the surface.