WeeklySA_AdminWar: The Mayor has declared war on illegal migrants and illegal electricity connections
By Monk Nkomo
The city of Johannesburg was facing serious and complex challenges that included a decaying infrastructure, service delivery backlogs that had reversed the gains that had already been made and the situation has been worsened by the fact that the city was also not financially viable.
This was revealed by Executive Mayor, Sello Dada Morero during his State of the Province address at Connie Bapela City of Johannesburg council chambers in Braamfontein.
The city’s financial position, he added, remained fragile and it called for a major reset in the financial management and revenue -generation activities.‘’ Our challenges are complex and we do not have infinite resources. Alone, we will not solve these challenges. The Covid 19 pandemic alone set us back by ten years.’’
Morero also lamented the city’s revenue collection approach and promised that this would have to be overhauled to improve the city’s liquidity and financial sustainability.
‘’ While we appreciate the current challenging economic landscape where unemployment remains a feature of the economy, we will be robust in collecting revenue from those who have the means to pay. We have no choice but to insist on proper financial discipline so that we can ensure the proactive management of our income and expenditure to derive the full value from each rand spent.’’
The city , Morero said, remained committed to financial sustainability as a key priority for this term. He called on all the people of Johannesburg to actively engage with the city and support their revenue collection initiatives whilst resolving any challenges they may be having.
He declared war on undocumented migrants and promised to take tough action against illegal electricity connections, illegal dumping, land invasion, illegal mining activities and pledged to fix potholes. A State of Disaster would also be declared from July this year for crime and lawlessness.
Morero made a plea to Johannesburg residents to comply with the city’s by-laws, stop hijacking buildings, vandalising public infrastructure and littering.
His also pledged to restore law and order through bylaw enforcement and crime prevention; making sure that traffic lights were functioning; giving traffic fines to offenders; creating opportunities for young people and keeping the streetlights on.
‘’Equally, it falls upon us as this Administration to collectively create a Joburg that is vibrant, safe and where every resident must not go to bed hungry. The people of Johannesburg must reflect the 43.99 percent of Gauteng province’s GDP which totalled R 2.37 trillion and 14.97 percent to the GDP of South Africa which had a total GDP of R6.97 trillion in 2023.’’
The mayor announced that a total R396 million had been allocated in the city’s finalisation programme for the upgrading of about 20 informal settlements including Zandspruit, Poortjie, Lehae, Ivory Park, Lawley, Orange Farm and Finetown. ‘’ Formalising our informal settlements help us to address issues of poverty and safety.’’
Other key projects in the pipeline included :
• the multimillion rand electrification programme in several areas including Diepsloot, Orange Farm and Kya Sands. This initiative would provide legal electricity to thousands of households ;
• the implementation of the Johannesburg Roads Agency multi-year infrastructure programme that included the tarring of roads in the townships and rehabilitation of stormwater infrastructure to help reduce flooding in undeserved areas;
* Building resilience and reliability water security through Joburg Water, which commanded the largest average capital allocation;
* Upgrading the Jabulani Precinct Upgrade which is a cultural and civic repositioning programme. The Jabulani Precinct Upgrade, with a R24.2 million allocation under Development Planning.
Morero said in support of the Presidency, the City of Johannesburg was now tasked with co-hosting the G20 Summit in September 2025, a momentous global event that demanded meticulous planning, inter-agency coordination and operational excellence.
