Performance and Oversight Reports Reveal Johannesburg’s Service Crisis

GOOD Statement by Matthew Cook, GOOD National Chairperson and City of Johannesburg Councillor:

Today’s Council session laid bare the widening gap between political promises and lived realities in Johannesburg. While oversight reports covered multiple separate portfolios what emerged was a single, sobering truth: our city is in systemic crisis, and the poorest residents are paying the price.

UTILITIES
From the R600 million quarterly loss at City Power, to the 76 households receiving water in informal settlements, and Pikitup’s 71% invoice backlog, it is clear that basic service delivery has collapsed under the weight of inefficiency, under-spending, and weak political oversight.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
GOOD commends the notable progress achieved by the Department of Social Development, particularly its interventions in food relief, gender-based violence, and services for vulnerable groups. But good intentions alone cannot mask the deeper failures, unfinished clinics, unpaid service providers, and critical infrastructure projects stuck in limbo. When indigent residents are unable to access services due to “network issues”, or when only half of available budgets are spent, we are failing in our most basic constitutional duties.

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
The Department of Human Settlements and JOSHCO, charged with redressing apartheid spatial injustice, also tell a mixed story. While some title deeds have been delivered and job opportunities created, the total absence of hostel upgrades, sanitation provision, or market gap housing highlights just how far we are from restoring dignity to forgotten communities. JOSHCO’s financial distress, with a R357 million deficit and near-insolvency, demands urgent intervention.

These are not isolated underperformances. This is a pattern of missed targets, bureaucratic paralysis, and political evasion. Residents are contending daily with blackouts, dry taps, uncollected refuse, stalled housing, and broken clinics, while their elected officials praise PowerPoint compliance and pass reports without consequence. We must stop governing in silos. We must stop applauding mediocrity. And we must stop expecting vulnerable communities to shoulder the cost of institutional rot.

As GOOD, we call for:

• Immediate action on capital underspending and procurement bottlenecks;
• Clear timelines for implementing Section 79 Oversight recommendations;
• Regular public reporting on performance and consequence management;
• And a shift in political culture, from paper compliance to actual delivery.

The people of Johannesburg are not asking for miracles. They’re asking for fairness, dignity, and a government that sees them.