RC 260925SAfmBridget Masinga
Friday, 25 September 2026
A Johannesburg local-election debate focused on water, electricity, billing failures, infrastructure losses and competing plans to repair the city’s finances and services.
- 13:15
Johannesburg’s mayor said revenue collection reached 96% this month, after a walk-the-floor programme resolved billing queries, while the city still faces a R220 billion infrastructure backlog.
- 13:45
Party representatives highlighted severe utility losses: water losses were put at up to 48%, electricity distribution losses at 27%, and reducing electricity losses could recover R3.5 billion.
- 13:34
Raisim Zanzi proposed an infrastructure investment fund owned 49% by the city, 40% by private equity and 11% by Johannesburg residents to finance repairs and revive economic assets.
- 13:27
The IFP said Johannesburg has 192,000 untraceable customers and proposed cleaning the billing system, building internal maintenance capacity and addressing illegal reconnections and infrastructure leakages.
- 13:39
Build One South Africa proposed lifting capital investment from roughly 10% to 30%, with smart metering, digital infrastructure monitoring and consequences for non-performance and corruption.