The Reality That Johannesburg Residents Face

GOOD Speech given during the 2026 State of the City Address (SOCA) Debate by Matthew Cook, GOOD National Chairperson and PR Councillor in the City of Johannesburg

Speaker, GOOD acknowledges the vision the Executive Mayor is trying to articulate of a Johannesburg that works, is resilient, investment-friendly and capable of restoring dignity through service delivery and opportunity.

We also recognise that governing Johannesburg is no small task. It is a complex, unequal and financially strained city carrying the weight of decades of spatial injustice, infrastructure neglect and rapid urbanisation.

However, Madam Speaker, the real question before this Council is whether the lived reality of Johannesburg residents reflects the optimistic picture painted in Mayor Morero’s State of the City Address.

The Mayor says the foundation has been laid.

Residents of Johannesburg are asking if the foundation is so strong, why does the city still feel like it’s cracking beneath them?

Speaker, the reality outside this chamber is very different from the optimism inside it.

People are still sitting without water.

Traffic lights still don’t work.

Roads are collapsing.

Substations are exploding.

Waste still piles up in communities.

And unemployment remains devastatingly high.

Yes, there has been progress in some areas. It would be dishonest not to acknowledge that, but Johannesburg cannot survive on press statements, slogans and SOCA speeches.

Residents do not experience government through speeches.

They experience it through whether the tap runs, whether the lights stay on, whether they are safe and whether they can find work.

Speaker, we heard a lot about investment figures, conferences, partnerships, and billion-rand announcements but investment alone is not transformation.

A city cannot call itself world-class while entire communities still live with collapsing infrastructure, overcrowding, spatial exclusion, and deep inequality.

The true test of governance is not what happens in boardrooms and this Council Chamber. It is what happens in Alexandra, Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Soweto, Eldorado Park, Westbury, Riverlea, Ivory Park and informal settlements across this city.

Speaker, this is where the Mayor’s speech becomes contradictory.

On one hand, the administration speaks about spatial justice and inclusion.

On the other hand, we continue to see public land sold off, communities pushed further to the margins, and development driven more by market interests than public good.

GOOD believes public land must be used for public good.

If Johannesburg is serious about spatial transformation, then land close to jobs, transport, and opportunity must prioritise affordable housing, inclusionary development, and integrated communities — not simply revenue generation.

Speaker, the Mayor says Johannesburg is resilient, but residents should not have to become resilient to government failure. People should not have to normalise burst pipes, blackouts, hijacked buildings, broken clinics, and unsafe streets.

While the Mayor correctly says corruption must not be tolerated, the reality is that corruption, mismanagement, political instability, and weak oversight have cost this city years of progress.

Speaker, one thing the Mayor said is absolutely correct: Johannesburg matters.

When Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

When Johannesburg fails, the consequences ripple across the entire country.

That is why this city cannot afford politics of self-congratulation.

It requires urgency, honesty, competence, and long-term thinking.

We do not need a city government focused on managing decline more efficiently.

We need a government capable of rebuilding public trust and delivering real change.

Madam Speaker, GOOD urges Mayor Morero to adopt a simple principle: The measure of success is not how many announcements are made, it is whether people’s lives are materially better.

Speaker, the people of Johannesburg are not asking for miracles.

They are asking for a government that works.

A city where infrastructure functions.

A city where public money is protected.

A city where development reduces inequality instead of deepening it.

A city where opportunity is not determined by your postcode.

And a city where dignity is not something residents must fight for every day.

That is the Johannesburg we should all be building.

Speaker, Mayor Morero presented his State of the City Address for the year ahead, but the political reality is that this administration has roughly five months left before residents return to the ballot box.

That means the time for announcements, slogans, and glossy promises is over.

What matters now is delivery.

What matters now is whether this administration uses its remaining time to leave Johannesburg better than it found it.

Speaker, the Mayor still has an opportunity to shape a meaningful legacy — one defined not by speeches, but by action; not by headlines, but by impact.

In five months’ time, the people of Johannesburg will judge this government not on what it hoped to achieve, but on what it actually delivered.

Speaker I hope, for the Executive Mayors sake, for his family, for his children, and for the city he says he loves, that the Mayor uses these final months to leave behind a legacy he can genuinely be proud of.

GOOD Inclusivity: GOOD aims to be a party for all South Africans, regardless of race or gender.

Read More at the Source