Joburg's power, water, and roads limp forward with slim budget increases
The City of Johannesburg's draft medium-term budget for the new financial year proposes slim increases for three of the most embattled units that are facing dire infrastructure failures.
The 2025/26 draft budget, which the City notified stakeholders was available on Monday, proposes a mere 13% increase in spending for City Power, Johannesburg Water also gets 13% more to spend, while Johannesburg Roads Agency gets a 2% hike in budget.
This comes as its draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP) – which was also flagged as available on Monday – stated that it is targeting 'improved quality of life and development driven resilience for all,' by 2040.
Johannesburg is seemingly battling endless water and power outages, some of which last for days on end while some of the multitude of potholes are large enough to write off a car.
The IDP also said that one of its strategic priorities was 'infrastructure development'.
In the IDP, Executive Mayor Dada Morero said that the plan was 'a People's Plan, shaped by the voices of Johannesburg's residents'. He noted that: 'Service delivery remains at the heart of this administration's commitment to the people of Johannesburg.
'While challenges exist, this IDP outlines a focused approach to infrastructure investment, improved maintenance strategies, and strengthened accountability mechanisms. Residents can expect continued improvements in access to clean water, stable electricity, well maintained roads, and efficient waste management,' Morero said.
Among the core areas that would take priority, City Manager Tshepo Makola, cited reducing water losses, upgrading pipelines, and ensuring equitable access to clean water; enhancing grid resilience, accelerating the rollout of independent power solutions, and improving response times for outages; and expanding road maintenance programs, upgrading major transport corridors, and enhancing public transport efficiency.
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