Joburg’s Mayor Morero says more talking can solve the city’s problems

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero maintains that persistent dialogue is the key to addressing the city's issues. At the Soweto Theatre, Morero gave his Mayoral Lecture with the theme "Joburg, our first love." He emphasized that development is ineffective without open discussions that allow for necessary adjustments. Morero urged residents to invite officials to their homes, shops, clinics, clubs, and on the streets to collaborate on shaping the city's future.

During his final lecture as mayor, Morero highlighted several achievements during his tenure, such as providing access to basic water and sanitation for 7,700 and 7,000 households respectively, and connecting 21,000 dwellings to the electricity grid since 2021-22. He also noted improvements in air quality, health service satisfaction scores, emergency services fleet capacity, and Metrobus's 31.6 million fatality-free kilometers.

Morero acknowledged that Johannesburg's infrastructure challenges stemmed from a growing population of 2.29 million residents, compared to 1.4 million in 2013. He highlighted problems like potholed roads, power outages, and a lack of maintenance in informal settlements and lower-cost areas of the inner city. Critics, like Freedom Front Plus' Johannesburg mayoral candidate Franco de Lange, argue that the city's infrastructure issues are mainly due to a lack of maintenance and questionable contractor appointments.

De Lange called for scrapping Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) regulations in government contracts and for open competition based on the best experience and quote. Morero acknowledged that the city cannot solve its R220 billion infrastructure backlog through budgeting alone and called for discussions on urban renewal, job creation through infrastructure development, making Johannesburg a Smart City, and turning public transport corridors into investment hubs.