INSIGHT JOZI NEWS
InsightJoziNews.orgJohannesburg’s Service Delivery Battle: ANC Defends Its Record as Coalition Politics Comes Under Fire
ANC branch chairperson Surprise Ndou argues that some of Johannesburg’s most criticised municipal policies must be understood against the social realities facing residents, while MMC Jack Sekwaila points to programmes targeting homelessness, recycling and environmental management.
“The question is not only whether Johannesburg is delivering — but what stands in the way of a city capable of serving everyone who lives and works in it?”
As Johannesburg heads towards the 2026 Local Government Elections, the city's political debate is increasingly being fought around one fundamental question: what is standing in the way of reliable service delivery in South Africa's economic capital?
For ANC representatives, the answer cannot simply be reduced to a list of municipal failures.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Noko Maleka on Insight Afrika on 1 Africa Radio TV, ANC branch chairperson Surprise Ndou argued that some of the apparent failures attributed to the governing party need to be understood against the social and economic realities confronting Johannesburg residents.
Ndou maintained that policies allowing financially vulnerable residents to receive relief were evidence of an approach that, in his view, attempts to balance municipal finances with the circumstances of residents who cannot afford municipal services.
He argued that the ANC has established municipal by-laws and mechanisms that provide room for residents who are unable to pay, contrasting this approach with what he described as the approach of other political parties.
Coalition politics and Johannesburg's future
Ndou also placed Johannesburg's service-delivery difficulties within the context of coalition government.
He argued that political instability and competing interests within coalition arrangements can make it more difficult for a municipality to implement programmes consistently and efficiently.
According to Ndou, Johannesburg requires a clearer political direction and residents should examine the broader record of programmes and interventions rather than focusing exclusively on individual failures.
He said he anticipates an outright majority, arguing that a stronger political mandate would create greater room for the implementation of the ANC's programme.
His position forms part of the wider political contest ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections, where parties are offering competing explanations for Johannesburg's governance and service-delivery challenges.
Jack Sekwaila: homelessness, recycling and dignity
Also participating in the conversation was Councillor Jack Sekwaila, the MMC responsible for Environment and Infrastructure Services.
Sekwaila highlighted programmes dealing with homelessness and environmental management, arguing that the two challenges can be addressed together.
One of the areas discussed was recycling and waste-related programmes involving people experiencing homelessness.
According to the ANC representatives, these programmes have created opportunities for homeless residents to earn an income and regain a measure of stability, with some participants subsequently leaving the streets.
The argument brings Johannesburg's homelessness crisis into a wider conversation about employment, social support, housing, rehabilitation, substance abuse and the management of public spaces.
For Sekwaila, environmental programmes can therefore become more than municipal operations — they can also become pathways towards economic participation and dignity.
The immigration debate and infrastructure pressure
Ndou also raised one of the most politically sensitive questions facing Johannesburg: immigration and the enforcement of immigration laws.
He argued that inadequate enforcement has placed additional pressure on municipal infrastructure.
His argument was that infrastructure is designed and funded around particular population and demand projections, but can come under significant pressure when the number of people using those systems increases substantially.
He specifically pointed to water-piping systems and electricity infrastructure as examples of networks that can face additional pressure when demand grows.
The issue requires an important distinction. Immigration policy and enforcement are primarily matters of national government, while municipalities are responsible for many of the services affected by population growth.
Nevertheless, Ndou's argument reflects a wider political debate about migration, population growth, housing, infrastructure capacity and municipal service delivery.
A city under pressure
Johannesburg's infrastructure challenges are among the most visible issues residents encounter in their daily lives.
Water reliability, electricity supply, roads, refuse collection, housing, homelessness and the condition of public spaces have all become central to the political conversation about the future of the city.
For the ANC representatives interviewed by Insight Afrika, these problems cannot be separated from the broader social and political circumstances in which Johannesburg operates.
For opposition parties and civic organisations, the same challenges may be interpreted differently, with competing proposals likely to dominate the campaign as election day approaches.
The question Johannesburg cannot avoid
The conversation between Ndou, Sekwaila and Maleka ultimately returned to a fundamental question: how does Johannesburg build a city capable of serving everyone who lives, works and seeks opportunity within it?
The ANC representatives have put forward their explanation — that social responsibility, infrastructure pressure, coalition politics and population growth must all be considered when assessing Johannesburg's performance.
The coming election will place those arguments alongside competing political visions for the country's economic capital.
For Johannesburg residents, the campaign is therefore likely to revolve around more than political slogans. It will be about the lived experience of the city: the tap that works, the light that stays on, the road that is repaired, the rubbish that is collected, the person who finds a pathway off the street and the infrastructure that must keep pace with a growing urban population.
As the campaign intensifies, the debate over Johannesburg's future is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION
Hear Surprise Ndou and MMC Jack Sekwaila in conversation with Noko Maleka on Insight Afrika, bringing Johannesburg's political and service-delivery debate directly to listeners.
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