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Service Delivery

latest news & developments

Potholes become Joburg election battleground for upcoming polls

As Johannesburg residents navigate damaged tyres and cratered streets, potholes have evolved from costly daily nuisances into powerful political symbols ahead of the local…

What appears to citizens as poor service delivery is often the visible result of deeper institutional weaknesses.
(David Harrison)

Before you promise me a bridge, show me the spreadsheet

As municipal elections approach in South Africa, voters must look past billboard slogans and demand real financial plans. It is time to challenge systemic mismanagement,…

The keys are not the finish line

Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara reflects on the department's annual performance, explaining why true housing delivery goes far beyond counting roofs to dismantling…

ANC’s Dada Morero

Battle for Joburg heats up

Johannesburg's mayoral race is heating up as political veterans and rising contenders clash over solutions for failing infrastructure, service delivery, and coalition control…

The tender that gobbled up Rand West City

A R76.18 million tender awarded to a state official in the ANC-led Rand West District Municipality has been exposed in the Auditor-General's report. This concerning pattern of…

Voting in Johannesburg’s outer west suburbs on 29 May, 2024.
(Delwyn Verasamy, Mail & Guardian)

The Republic must be rebuilt from the pavement up

As South Africa prepares for the local government elections on 4 November 2026, the African National Congress calls for honesty, humility, and resolve, urging a national…

Minister urged to rescue collapsing Gqeberha metro

Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, is facing a severe service delivery collapse due to mismanagement and political infighting. A veteran anti-apartheid activist is now calling…

Zille’s effective campaign in Johannesburg

Helen Zille, the DA's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, has launched an unconventional campaign exposing the ANC-led metro's failure to provide basic services. She has lodged a…

Ratanda water protest deaths a tragic result of poor governance

Two tragic deaths in Ratanda, a township south of Heidelburg, during a service delivery protest over water supply have sparked outrage and calls for reflection on South Africa's…

How the Yeoville Bellevue Civic Movement is organising for change

What began as a campaign against prolonged electricity disruptions has grown into a powerful grassroots movement determined to improve everyday life in Yeoville and Bellevue…

Slippery slope: The sinkholes started forming in the township in 2021, forcing families to abandon their homes as they were deemed unsafe. A clinic and schools also had to close. Photos: Lunga Mzangwe

Merafong sinks but funds go elsewhere

Cash-strapped Merafong City Local Municipality has spent almost half its R2.6 billion annual budget on professional services while failing to service its water and electricity…

uMzimkhulu Local Municipality community hall. (@UmzimkhuluLm/X)

‘Hall of Shame’: R53m spent on a community structure that remains incomplete 14 years later

An ANC-led municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has spent over R50 million on a community hall that remains incomplete after 14 years, sparking outrage among residents who face severe…

Getting Ekurhuleni working again through delivery and accountability

A city that works is a city you can rely on. When roads are maintained, electricity is steady, water systems hold up, and the administration runs without endless delays,…

Free State Cogta MEC Sakie Mofokeng says councillors who applied for jobs in the municipalities they serve are resisting provincial interventions aimed at fixing dysfunctional local government, amid accusations that he is using Section 139 administrations to consolidate political control. (Facebook)

Free State councillors apply for jobs in the municipalities they serve, fearing 2026 election loss

Free State Cogta MEC Sakie Mofokeng says councillors who applied for jobs in the municipalities they serve are resisting provincial interventions aimed at fixing dysfunctional…

Across the country, communities are experiencing a steady deterioration in service delivery. Water outages stretch into days. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

When service becomes a favour: Reclaiming accountability in South Africa’s public sector

South Africans deserve better. They deserve a public service that works, that listens and that cares. They deserve assurance, not uncertainty that when an issue is reported, it…