Johannesburg is suffering from an acute financial and governance crisis. Is it possible to turn things around? You bet it is.

I was born in Johannesburg and have spent most of my life in the city. The bustling commercial districts, leafy suburbs, rolling parks, great weather and – above all – the people, make Jo’burg a special place to live.

There is an energy here that you don’t get elsewhere in South Africa.

What started as a chaotic, bustling mining town on the Witwatersrand in 1886 has morphed over time into a commercial hub for domestic and international corporations and financial services firms. Jo’burg has always been a magnate for the best and the brightest talent, the risk-takers and those in search of a better life.

But the City of Gold has lost a lot of its shine. Potholed roads, permanently darkened streetlights, exploding electricity sub-stations, and gushing water pipes are now commonplace.

Dire financial straights

This week, the Auditor General reported to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that the water losses for the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) amounted to 45% of the city’s total water supply. The losses were due to theft or leakage – euphemistically termed “non-billable” water – resulting in an estimated R2.8 billion in foregone revenue.

This comes after Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero was reprimanded by Minister of Finance Enoch Godonwana for a R10.3 billion wage settlement that the mayor agreed with the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU).

In a letter to Morero on 23 April 2026, Godongwana said the wage deal is unfunded and cannot be paid, placing the city’s finances in jeopardy. He also noted that the City’s cash and cash equivalent of R3.9 billion in 2024/25 is insufficient to repay the R25.2 billion it owes to creditors.

In March, the CoJ missed its filing deadlines to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, resulting in its bonds being suspended from the exchange. The suspension was finally lifted this week following the belated submission of the City’s 2024/25 annual report.

The CoJ employs about 40 000 people (including permanent staff and contractors). In 2022/23 its wage bill was R17.6 billion. The City may not work for residents, but it has worked very well for politicians and civil servants.

Leadership deficit

There are 18 political parties currently represented in the council. Seven of these are members of the incumbent coalition government: the African National Congress (ANC), ActionSA, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the Patriotic Alliance (PA), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the African Independent Congress (AIC), and Al Jama-ah.

The city has seen a revolving door of mayors since the last local government elections in 2021: a total of five mayors have come and gone. Morero has served two non-consecutive terms, and Al Jama-ah has had two mayors despite only having three seats in council.

Voters will have an opportunity to elect new representatives on 4 November.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has fielded Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate, whose energetic campaign has sought to leverage her personal brand and considerable experience. Current polling has the DA hovering around the 40% mark, below what would be required for an outright majority.

Whoever wins Joburg will have to confront a deeply broken and dysfunctional administration. A daunting task, no doubt, but the city can be fixed by embracing three principles: deregulation, privatisation and decentralisation.

Deregulate

The City should simply do less and get out of the way. This approach makes sense for an entity that can barely tie its own shoelaces.

I invite you to browse the seemingly endless list of bylaws on the CoJ website, which include rules for informal trading, outdoor advertising, culture and recreation, and any other human activity you can think of. These bylaws are often highly paternalistic, micromanaging peaceful, voluntary conduct rather than dealing with actual crimes.

Informal traders tend to bear the brunt of these rules. The reason they are “informal” in the first place is that they can’t afford to comply with the onerous regulations in the formal sector. They should be left alone.

Most of these bylaws could be run through an artificial intelligence tool to identify rules that impede free enterprise or limit personal choice, or that are simply redundant.

For example, bylaws specifically adopted for the 2010 Fifa World Cup are still listed on the CoJ website. Nobody would object to this anachronism simply being deleted – you don’t need a Council resolution to do it.

The mayor must wield a giant pair of scissors and cut any and all unnecessary regulations.

Privatise

Given the collapsing state of Johannesburg’s infrastructure, wherever possible utilities should be sold off or handed over to private consortia to be managed.

Instead of insourcing, as former mayor Herman Mashaba did, entities such as City Power and Pikitup should have their independence reinforced. The boards and executive leadership of these entities should be selected purely on merit.

Residents who take it upon themselves to fix potholes or leaking pipes at their own expense should be allowed to do so with minimal oversight from the city, which could also provide rate deductions to cover expenses incurred. Parks and recreational facilities can be run by non-profit community organisations, as a number already are.

The city’s payroll must also be cut down to size – at least by half. Identify the corrupt, the lazy, and the redundant and dismiss them in the first week of the next term. Hire a team of ace labour lawyers and set aside a generous budget for disputes in the labour courts. Introduce performance management processes for the remaining employees and hold them accountable to measurable targets.

Decentralise

The City of Johannesburg is simply too big and complicated to operate effectively. It covers a vast swath of territory stretching from Orange Farm in the south to Midrand in the north and includes multiple business districts, informal settlements, and residential areas.

Pre-1994, Johannesburg consisted of 15 to 16 separate municipalities. During the transition to democracy, these municipalities were amalgamated into four Metropolitan Local Councils (MLCs). In 2000, the MLCs were merged with the neighbouring Midrand Local Authority into the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality that we know today.

The “unicity” model was designed to make wealthy suburbs cross-subsidise poorer areas. In other words, it was a redistributive jerrymander that centralised governance, creating massive opportunities for looting and rent-seeking.

Population estimates vary, but at a conservative measure, Jo’burg today has approximately 6 million residents, which is about the same population as Denmark’s. A polity of this size and diversity requires more localised solutions.

For Johannesburg to work in the long term it needs to be made smaller, both in terms of its geographic footprint and the scope of its authority. A federated structure of multiple small municipalities, each with its own administrative powers, should be the goal.

In other words, end the City of Johannesburg altogether.

Get real

Some might say it is unrealistic to expect widespread deregulation, privatisation and decentralisation to occur in the next term. If being “realistic” means tolerating ongoing decay, then perhaps realism is not such a viable strategy.

We must shift the perception of what is possible and be more ambitious about what we as Jo’burgers can achieve. This requires acknowledging that the current system is simply not working – and needs fundamental change. Those who love Joburg should set it free from its inept rulers in Braamfontein.

Ansara is CEO of the Free Market Foundation