For years, the City of Ekurhuleni has been hamstrung by a litany of failures – from political infighting in the executive to steadily deteriorating service delivery. Over the past decade, nearly every negative indicator in the metro has worsened, while residents endure the daily consequences of collapsing services and deepening poverty.
Instead of confronting this decline with urgency, the leadership has been preoccupied with power struggles in council chambers. The result is a municipality teetering on the edge of financial and administrative collapse.
The warning signs are visible in every neighbourhood: uncut grass and overgrown bushes, potholed roads, illegal dumping sites and erratic refuse collection. These conditions steadily erode the quality of life for residents and undermine confidence in the local government.
At the same time, unemployment has climbed to 32.3%, housing backlogs continue to grow and crime remains a persistent threat to public safety. These are not abstract policy failures. They are daily indignities borne by working-class families, informal traders and small businesses already stretched by rising living costs and limited economic opportunity.
Yet, instead of rallying around a programme of service delivery recovery, the council has again turned inward. Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza’s executive reshuffle this week has injected fresh instability into an already fragile coalition.
The EFF, a key coalition partner in the ANC-dominated council, withdrew its members from the mayoral committee after its representation was cut from five to two. ActionSA declined an invitation to join the executive.
With predictions of political pushback and the possibility of a motion of no confidence against Xhakaza, the metro now faces yet another season of paralysis. Public trust has been further corroded by allegations of corruption and criminality involving municipal officials. Many of these were exposed in testimonies before the Madlanga commission of inquiry and the parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating allegations of police corruption.
These disclosures have reinforced perceptions of a leadership culture more invested in patronage networks than in public service.
Ekurhuleni does not lack plans, policies or committees. What it lacks is political will anchored in residents’ lived realities. Coalition partners must stop treating the metro as a chessboard and start treating it as a city of people.
Stability in leadership is not an end in itself; it is only meaningful if it delivers water, electricity, safety, housing and dignity.
If factional advantage continues to trump functional governance, the cost will be paid by communities already at breaking point. Ekurhuleni’s leaders should remember: power is not a prize to be captured, it is a responsibility to serve.
