Joburg’s infrastructure failures are a goldmine for criminals
A new report warns that Johannesburg’s failing infrastructure has become a revenue stream for criminal networks — and that the system profits from keeping the city broken.
Johannesburg's deteriorating infrastructure is not only causing inconvenience and service disruptions for residents, but it is also providing lucrative opportunities for criminal networks, according to a new report by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE). These criminal networks, composed of corrupt officials, contractors, and criminals, have formed a "crime-council ecosystem" that thrives on the city's failures.
The report identifies three levels to this ecosystem. At the top, political capture allows for the manipulation of procurement processes and favoritism towards connected businesses. In the middle, hybrid criminal networks involve officials, contractors, and criminals operating around essential services like electricity, water, and property.
At the third level, direct forms of criminality, such as extortion by municipal employees or contractors, create a threatening environment that discourages reporting and investigation. One particularly prevalent example is the "water mafia" syndicates that benefit from water shortages and sabotage of infrastructure, leading to increased demand for water tankers and emergency repairs.
The CDE also highlights a pattern of theft and collusion with contractors in the electricity network, where thieves sell stolen copper and then win tenders to fix the damage. Furthermore, political pressure has weakened the City's internal investigative unit, GFIS, making it difficult to uncover and address corruption. Despite these challenges, the City of Johannesburg has committed to strengthening procurement processes, internal controls, and consequence management.
They have also referred 13 alleged financial misconduct cases to an independent disciplinary board. However, the CDE argues that improving rules and ethics alone will not solve the problem, as the institutions responsible for enforcing these rules can be manipulated or disabled. The report calls for radical transparency in procurement, merit-based appointments, and better enforcement of rules to break the cycle of criminality and infrastructure failure.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
