JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng – With local government elections on the horizon, the Gauteng government is doubling down on a province-wide strategy to break down silos between different spheres of government, tackle service delivery failures, and rebuild faith in struggling municipalities.
Cooperative Governance MEC Jacob Mamabolo has briefed the public on the progress of the province’s Turnaround Strategy and Smart City programme, which targets persistent challenges across Gauteng’s eleven municipalities.
“The reason why we have set up a province-wide turnaround strategy, why we are implementing that and why we are working together in an integrated way,” Mamabolo explained. “No single sphere of government working alone, no person working in a corner there inside us will be able to solve the problems that we have.”
He stressed that unity of effort is non-negotiable. “We are supporting each other, we’re handholding each other because when we talk past each other, when we seem to be working in silos, the problems persist. We can’t solve a problem unless we’re working together.”
According to officials, coordinated infrastructure interventions are already producing results, with water supply stabilizing and service delivery pressures beginning to ease.
“The water supply has stabilized throughout the province including critical areas in Joburg, which is good news,” Mamabolo said. “Municipalities continue to make inroads in fighting illegal connections which has been an accuracy in all municipalities.”
He detailed ongoing repair work on leak reservoirs, valves, meters, and daily restoration of pipes and leaks in metros, noting that these efforts are generating significant savings on water losses.
Yet major concerns remain: aging infrastructure, climate-related risks, and a growing sinkhole crisis.
Mamabolo revealed that a recent roundtable discussion in Mogale City focused on the sinkhole problem, where a report confirmed more than 5,000 sinkholes across the province. “Working with our partners, which is CSIR, we are actually dealing with issues of classification and declaration of those sinkholes so that we can get assistance from the national government,” he said.
As part of the broader smart city vision, Gauteng is also revitalizing rundown central business districts to restore economic activity and municipal confidence.
“The province has developed a CBD revitalization strategy and that is also followed by implementation plans, and these implementation plans were developed and agreed to with municipalities,” Mamabolo said.
Each of the ten pilot CBDs identified for revitalization must table implementation plans through their councils and then identify kickstart projects. Six of the ten have already been approved in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Midvaal municipalities.
With elections looming, Mamabolo warned that municipalities will increasingly be judged on whether these turnaround plans deliver visible, on-the-ground improvements for residents.