As political parties prepare for what is expected to be one of the most fiercely contested elections in Johannesburg, Inkatha Freedom Party mayoral candidate Mlungisi Mabaso believes the city’s problems run deeper than coalition politics.
Mabaso said some officials inside the city administration have taken advantage of years of political instability, worsening service delivery failures and infrastructure decay in the country’s economic hub.
In an interview with Sunday Times, Mabaso said constant changes in political leadership had created uncertainty inside the metro and allowed some officials to ignore political office bearers.
“The instability has affected the governance of Johannesburg, that’s a fact,” Mabaso said.
“The consequences of that is what we are witnessing now — infrastructure decay and reprioritisation. There is no consistency in the implementation of programmes because each administration introduces its own priorities.”
Johannesburg is expected to be one of the key battlegrounds in the 2026 local government elections, with major political parties preparing senior leaders to contest the metro.
The DA has announced veteran federal council chairperson Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, while Herman Mashaba will again lead ActionSA’s campaign in the city he once governed.
The ANC is also expected to field senior leaders as it fights to retain control of the metro.
TimesLIVE previously reported that Johannesburg is likely to remain under a coalition government after the local elections, with no party expected to secure an outright majority.
The ANC lost its outright majority in Johannesburg in the 2016 local government elections after winning just over 44% of the vote. In 2021, the party’s support dropped further to about 33%, while the DA received about 26% and ActionSA entered the council with about 16%.
The results led to coalition governments and several changes in political leadership, with the city having successive mayors including Herman Mashaba, Geoff Makhubo, Mpho Phalatse, Thapelo Amad and Dada Morero over the past few years.
Mabaso said some officials had become comfortable with the instability.
“That’s why we have prioritised stabilising governance in Johannesburg, because we’ve got officials who have taken advantage of the situation, who when you talk to them as a political principal, in their corners, they will say: ‘Don’t worry, this one is also leaving like the others.’ So that is the attitude now with some officials.”
While he said there were committed officials inside the city, Mabaso claimed others were involved in corruption and exploited weaknesses in the system.
“We’ve got those that are a problem in the system. They engage in corrupt activities, they take advantage of the leakages in the system.”
We cannot allow any officials to misbehave and then evade disciplinary processes because of political protection. Those things are not going to exist under our watch.
— Mlungisi Mabaso, IFP mayoral candidate
Mabaso said stronger consequence management would form part of the IFP’s approach if it gets elected.
“Consequence management must be instituted without any fear or favour,” he said.
“We cannot allow any officials to misbehave and then evade disciplinary processes because of political protection. Those things are not going to exist under our watch.”
He said the mayoral committee had already instructed the city manager that performance bonuses should only go to officials who performed their duties properly.
“They must only be paid based on the performance of an individual. We are going to monitor very closely the performance of every individual official.”
Mabaso said the IFP also wanted to strengthen internal capacity in the city instead of relying heavily on outside contractors to maintain infrastructure.
“We are going to beef up internal capacity for the maintenance of infrastructure because we can no longer keep on appointing people to maintain the infrastructure,” he said.
He claimed disagreements between officials over contractors often delayed service delivery.
“If an official has a particular interest in a contractor, they appoint them. If the other official does not want this contractor, they then block the process, which affects the delivery of services.”
Mabaso said the proposed interventions would apply across municipal entities including Johannesburg Water, City Power, the Johannesburg Roads Agency and City Parks.
The IFP recently announced Mabaso as its first mayoral candidate for Johannesburg.
He joined the IFP Youth Brigade in 2011 and later became chairperson of the party’s youth structure in Johannesburg. He entered council in 2016 and served on several oversight committees before being appointed MMC for human settlements in 2019 at the age of 29. He was removed from the position in 2023 before returning to the mayoral committee in 2024.
“The party decided to change their approach this time around because we recognise that Johannesburg is one of the strategic metropolitan municipalities of the country,” he said.
“The organisation is in cognisance of the fact that Johannesburg is an economic hub, so people are here seeking economic opportunities.”
Mabaso said stabilising governance and fixing infrastructure would be central to the IFP’s campaign.
“If you can prepare your infrastructure, you then enable investment, which will also bring back businesses that have left and ultimately result in job creation,” he said.
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