Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero says residents should respond with hope, not fear, when listening to the city’s leadership amid mounting concerns over Eskom’s latest warning to municipalities.
Addressing the city’s council on Wednesday, Morero acknowledged growing anxiety around the city’s electricity challenges, saying there was “an elephant in the room” that needed to be confronted.
“This elephant is creating fear,” he said before quoting the late Desmond Tutu. “All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous does not mean never being scared.’”
Morero said the city was taking Eskom’s notice over non-compliance seriously, but insisted Johannesburg would work with stakeholders rather than confront the power utility.
“We are concerned about Eskom’s latest notice and we are taking it seriously. This challenge is not only affecting the City of Johannesburg but several municipalities across the country,” he said.
“We will not fight Eskom. We will work with the minister of electricity and energy and Salga (SA local government association) to resolve this challenge. City Power does have a turnaround plan which addresses this challenge.”
Morero insisted the governing coalition in Johannesburg had the capacity to stabilise and rebuild the city.
Part of the recovery strategy, he said, involved implementing guidance from National Treasury and the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs to reform municipal trading entities.
“This reform agenda will assist the city to improve governance, financial sustainability, operational efficiency and accountability within entities that have historically operated under significant fiscal and infrastructural pressure,” he said.
Morero revealed that the city had reached an agreement in principle with German development bank KFW for a €200m (R3.8bn) loan aimed at funding energy-related infrastructure projects linked to City Power’s pipeline.
“The city, as the borrower, and City Power, as the execution agent, are currently finalising a contract with KFW. We expect the agreed loan amount to be disbursed before the end of June 2026,” he said.
He also called on institutions including National Treasury, the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit to investigate the city’s finances.
Morero said the city’s budget alone would not be enough to tackle Johannesburg’s infrastructure and service delivery backlogs. “It is important that we continue to partner and leverage resources from like-minded people and institutions interested in the growth of Johannesburg,” he said.
He listed safer communities, inner-city rejuvenation, health services and social development among the municipality’s priorities.
“As a people we must not tolerate lawlessness,” Morero said.
“We must continue to renew our urban core, enforce by-laws, strengthen emergency services and operationalise the Integrated Intelligent Operations Centre.”
Morero also pledged to digitally transform Johannesburg by 2027, saying technology and artificial intelligence would play a central role in improving municipal services.
“Artificial intelligence must be used to better our services. We must strengthen governance and shareholder oversight so that our entities can perform better,” he said. “Productivity is crucial to service delivery. Corruption must not be tolerated. Where corruption takes place, arrests must be made.”
TimesLIVE
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