HANDS-ON: Johanneburg Mayor Dada Morero has been spearheading countless cleaning-up operations
around the City lately. Photo: Supplied
Deputy Communications & Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele tweeted in October: His worship Mayor Dada Morero seems to have been moved by the genuine cries of the people of City of jo’burg. He is now sleeping and breathing actions everyday. We wish him and the entire collective of the City to stay the course, because that is what people of JOZI deserve.
The official City of Johannesburg X account replied to the tweet with a salute emoji — as if in agreement.
But any Joburger knows the only reason for this sudden lastminute.com clean-up is the upcoming G20 summit and next year’s local government elections next year. The X post reads like a favour being done for residents — when really, it’s an attempt to impress our international guests while gaslighting the locals who’ve been living in dysfunction for years.
And then there’s the irony. The deputy minister essentially admits that His Worship, Mayor Morero, was “moved by the cries of the people” — implying that before now, those cries weren’t worth much attention.
The people of Johannesburg have cried so many tears over the past decade that they could fix their own water issues by now. We’ve become so accustomed to temporary service delivery “solutions” that when the City slaps a Band-Aid over a gaping wound to look presentable for a summit, it’s not just lazy — it’s insulting. We all know it’s temporary, but the resilient South African within us prays that it’s not.
The real tragedy of this “clean-up campaign” theatre is that the formula for urban revival and attracting investment isn’t complicated.
A clean, functioning city with reliable infrastructure attracts investment. It’s that simple.
Investment flows where confidence goes — and when parts of Bedfordview are without water for two weeks, confidence evaporates fast. I spoke to a resident whose neighbour had just had a baby – and was rearing a newborn without running water. How do you build investor trust in a city that can’t deliver water to a new mother?
This is why we are seeing Cape Town and its surrounds doing so well. According to Seeff’s August 2025 report, Cape Town’s property values are growing at around 8.5% annually, well above the national average of 5.2%. It’s one of the only provinces still offering promising capital growth to investors.
There’s a shortage of luxury homes to rent or buy, and demand is sky-high across asset classes:
- Over 10,000 new apartments are under construction.
- 40 hotels are in the pipeline.
- Industrial vacancies are below 2%.
- Houses in good suburbs (valued at around R2–3 million) are selling almost instantly.
- Southern suburbs have near-zero vacancies with long waiting lists for families wanting to be close to good schools.
- The Winelands is booming, with new residential estates, retail centres, and industrial developments popping up everywhere.
Why is Cape Town sprinkled with cranes and getting all the construction action while Johannesburg’s developers are still “waiting for investor confidence” like it’s an Uber that never arrives?
Yes, semigration is part of the story – but there’s also a wave of capital flowing from across Africa down to South Africa, where investors are seeking stability. It’s a safe place to invest your money when compared to other African countries. Investors are choosing Cape Town not just for its mountain views, but because the lights stay on, the water runs, and the rubbish gets collected.
Meanwhile, Johannesburg — the epicentre of African business — is losing ratepayers and credibility. The irony is, Jozi should be sharing in this investment pie. Instead, we’re putting all our energy into temporary clean-ups for visiting dignitaries, when we should be doing it for the people who actually live here and pay for it.
Consistency is key. Clean-up campaigns shouldn’t be newsworthy; they should be normal.
People invest where life works. If you wake up too many mornings in Joburg, pessimistic about driving over potholes to work, dodging traffic lights that don’t function, and explaining to your kids why there’s no water again when they get dressed for school, well then, in that case, you eventually make a hard choice: lower your expectations, or change your city.
And let’s be honest, the expectations for a functioning City of Joburg are currently at rock bottom.
People (and their money) are changing their city.
Cape Town is not all sunshine and Chenin Blanc. Rapid growth is stretching its infrastructure to the limit. Rates are climbing, new “cleaning tariffs” have been introduced, and affordability is slipping away even for former Joburgers.
Schools are also bursting at the seams. They need to figure out how not to compromise people’s lifestyle and have their infrastructure handle it.
But at least Cape Town is investing in its infrastructure. Cape Town spends more money on infrastructure than any other municipality in South Africa.
I cannot emphasise the link between a well-run municipality and property investment enough. Capital has no citizenship; it flows like water – to wherever it feels safe, stable, and well-served.
Get that right in Johannesburg, and the loyal Joburgers will be back.
Johannesburg is losing ratepayers that it needs, but it doesn’t have to die. The traffic lights at Grayston and Rivonia are finally working again – that’s a start.
But the City needs to keep this up, not just for the cameras.
Joburgers are some of the hardest-working, friendliest people you’ll ever meet. They’re not asking for much — just the basic services they’re already paying for.
Because at the end of the day, no summit, no speech, and no tweet can attract investors quite like a city that actually works.