Enough with Jhb-mayor’s 8 out of 10 for performance, says AfriForum Youth

Dada Morero’s recent self-rating of 8 out of 10 for his performance as Mayor of Johannesburg does not align with the reality that residents and businesses in the city experience daily, says AfriForum Youth. Morero recently praised himself in the media for his management of Johannesburg, despite the city still struggling with serious service delivery challenges. This includes, among others, the ongoing water crisis in various parts of the city, as well as widespread problems with excessive electricity bills that are putting residents under financial pressure.

According to media reports, businesses in areas such as Selby are facing major challenges due to water shortages. Businesses are being forced to incur additional costs to keep their doors open, while hundreds of jobs could be at risk.

At the same time, many residents report being confronted with excessive electricity bills because of problems with the city’s billing system. In some cases, households receive accounts amounting to tens of thousands of rand despite no significant change in their consumption. Residents are often then forced to engage in lengthy disputes with the city to have the incorrect amounts corrected.

“Johannesburg residents live with the consequences of poor service delivery every day. It is therefore difficult to understand how the Mayor can conclude that his performance deserves an 8 out of 10 while so many residents continue to struggle with basic service delivery problems,” says Hanno Koster, Youth Leader for AfriForum Youth.

AfriForum Youth believes that the state of Johannesburg’s infrastructure and service delivery is cause for serious concern and that the city administration should focus on solving existing problems rather than defending its own performance.

The organisation therefore calls on residents to make their voices heard and to put pressure on the mayor and the city administration to accept accountability for the condition of the city and the continued deterioration of municipal services.

“Johannesburg residents deserve a city administration that delivers results and solves problems. So long as water crises, administrative failures and other service delivery problems persist, residents will rightly question whether a score of 8 out of 10 is truly justified,” concludes Koster.

• Watch AfriForum Youth’s video in response to Morero’s self-rating here.