Living in Joburg: Paper shortages, phone lines down and now your roads 'can't be fixed'
The City of Johannesburg is facing a severe financial crisis, resulting in service delivery failures including road maintenance, communication outages, and administrative shortages. Local councillors have warned that the city's inability to pay suppliers is causing a breakdown in essential municipal functions.
Why it matters
Highlights the impact of municipal financial mismanagement on public infrastructure and essential services in a major urban center.
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Joburg mayor Dada Morero with members of the mayoral committee and officials from the Johannesburg Roads Agency. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Just weeks after The Citizen reported on paper shortages at major service delivery centres and telephone lines to the city being down, councillors have warned that broken roads will not be fixed for the foreseeable future.
All of this is over unpaid service providers as the city battles a mounting debt crisis.
Ward 72 councillor Daniel Schay briefed his ward in a circulating video about what he described as a disastrous situation in the City of Joburg. He said he had attended a councillor’s forum with city officials this week, where they were told that the city’s financial problems are affecting service delivery.
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