A deepening governance crisis in Emfuleni Local Municipality has prompted Democratic Alliance Gauteng Leader Solly Msimanga to seek urgent engagement with the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC, following the failure of a scheduled council meeting after ANC councillors did not attend.
The municipality now functions without an executive mayor and lacks an approved budget, exacerbating service delivery challenges that have persisted for nearly a decade. Emfuleni has remained under provincial administration since 2018, marking the longest such intervention in South Africa’s municipal landscape.
Solly Msimanga pointed to internal ANC divisions as the primary driver of the impasse. He explained that disagreement between provincial and local ANC structures over a mayoral candidate has resulted in a political vacuum. “They cannot agree on who they’re going to be putting as their candidate and therefore until they’re able to then agree on that they’re just not going to be there,” Msimanga stated.
The stakes extend well beyond municipal boundaries. Emfuleni’s infrastructure forms a critical component of the Vaal River water system, which supplies households across Gauteng. Msimanga warned that deteriorating sewer treatment facilities risk contaminating the regional water supply. “You and me run now at the risk of having water that will be contaminated because of the sewer that is actually then going to be flowing into the Vaal River system,” he said.
Financial strain compounds the operational paralysis. The municipality owes Rand Water a minimum of R1.9 billion and loses approximately 70% of treated water through aging and damaged infrastructure. Previous enforcement actions have seen municipal bank accounts and vehicles attached due to outstanding debts to service providers.
Msimanga characterized the crisis as stemming from a combination of factors: administrative incompetence, political factionalism, alleged sabotage, and insufficient governance oversight. He noted that some ANC members have actively undermined their own mayor, while the party’s provincial leadership has yet to present a unified path forward.
In response, the DA has put forward a provincial infrastructure master plan and proposed the creation of a ring-fenced fund, with provincial treasury serving as guarantor, dedicated exclusively to water infrastructure rehabilitation across struggling municipalities. “Emfuleni will never be able to recover on its own,” Msimanga asserted, highlighting that the scale of required investment exceeds the municipality’s fiscal capacity.
Msimanga confirmed he has written to the COGTA MEC and is requesting a meeting with Panyaza Lesufi in his capacity as ANC provincial chairperson to discuss actionable solutions. “While they are fighting internally, the people of Emfuleni are really suffering and things are getting worse and worse,” he emphasized.
Despite the severity of the situation, Msimanga maintained that recovery remains achievable through decisive leadership, transparent developmental planning, and strict financial accountability. “People want to know that money is not going to be stolen. They want to know that services are actually then going to be provided,” he said, adding that collaboration with the private sector and consistent communication with residents could support meaningful turnaround efforts.
The DA leader cautioned that incremental repairs would be inadequate for municipalities like Emfuleni, where compromised water and sewer networks require comprehensive, phased rehabilitation to safeguard public health and restore essential services. He stressed that DA councillors had attended the collapsed meeting, while ANC representatives were absent without explanation.
The recent loss of Ward 28 by the ANC has further intensified internal pressures, yet no consensus on leadership has emerged. Msimanga reiterated that residents should not bear the consequences of political disputes, urging all parties to prioritize service delivery over factional interests.