Communities repair roads, water and power in DIY revolution as City of Joburg falters

By now, it is well known that Joburg is crumbling. Tyres vanish into potholes, sewage gushes through the streets, stormwater drains are blocked, illegal dumping piles up in the streets and traffic lights blink dead while streetlamps blaze endlessly or fail altogether, leaving neighbourhoods in darkness.

On paper, Johannesburg Water, City Power, the Johannesburg Roads Agency, City Parks and Pikitup are responsible. In practice, it is residents who are stepping in: poorer communities with spades, black bags and borrowed bakkies; wealthier suburbs with cash, hiring private staff to deliver what the City no longer can.

What has emerged are parallel municipalities, not headquartered in council chambers but united through WhatsApp groups, wheelbarrows and ratepayers’ wallets. The rich are building self-sustained suburbs of functionality. The poor, abandoned by Joburg, sink deeper into dysfunction.

In the vacuum, residents’ associations and street committees have become de facto service providers. Far beyond complaints, they are salvaging the city street by street, plugging gaps in a system sliding towards collapse.

Water pipes are purchased and installed privately. Cleaners are paid to sweep. Residents cart their own rubbish, adopt parks and swimming pools, guard and maintain substations at a cost of R250,000 (in Greenside), and fill hundreds of potholes. Many suburbs now mimic miniature municipalities.

But the imbalance is glaring. These survival strategies thrive only where money can be collected from residents. In the poorer suburbs, where the collapse bites hardest, residents simply cannot afford to pay.

Read more: Frustrated residents unite to fight terminal decline of Joburg’s eastern suburbs

At a Johannesburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) summit held in the inner city suburb of Lorentzville on 30 August 2025, associations voted to remain in the Presidential Johannesburg Working Group (PJWG). Activist Neeshan Bolton told delegates: “Without pressure, the City will not change. All the City’s woes are linked to the financial crisis, including water and electricity problems. We have to keep the pressure up, it is the only way.”

The alliance agreed to stay on the presidential group for the time being to see if its presence would contribute positively to the outcomes.

Khule Duma from the presidential working group, addressing delegates, said Joburg’s finances were the problem. Revenue collection was only about 82%, while the National Treasury norm was 95%.

He highlighted the scale of neglect, describing the decay and state of the streets he personally witnessed on his way to the summit in Lorentzville, calling it “a public health crisis”.

He noted that the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s (JRA) budget has shrunk drastically: “Roads, waste and safety are severely underfunded. The JRA budget has dwindled from R1.5-billion in 2015/16 to R700-million this year. That’s a reduction of one-third. Waste and illegal dumping are a public health crisis, I saw it for myself.”

He stressed that civil society partnerships were essential to tackle backlogs.

In the meantime, communities do what they can.

Sunninghill: Pipes, bins and potholes

In Sunninghill, frustration boiled over when Joburg Water left burst pipes leaking for days. Residents contributed R3,500 to buy their own pipes and fittings. Contractors installed them, illegally but effectively, when Joburg Water failed to respond.

The Sunninghill Community Ratepayers Association has gone further, hiring cleaners, installing bins and filling potholes.

Chairperson Linda Gildenhuys put it bluntly: “We suffer like other suburbs do. Our residents are under pressure, they also battle financially. We fill the worst potholes when they become dangerous. We also hire workers to clean. We have placed 112 additional bins around the suburb at our own cost, especially around e-hailing, taxi and hawking areas, which we empty, provide new bags for, and dispose of at our own expense. We collect about 110 bags a week, a job Pikitup should be doing.”

Volunteers had already patched 155 potholes in the suburb.

Lonehill: From warzone to model suburb

Back in the 1990s, Lonehill was a crime warzone plagued by hijackings and home invasions. Residents realised the cavalry wasn’t coming, so they created their own.

Today, the Lonehill Residents Association runs a privately funded community initiative with armed patrols, CCTV cameras and rapid response units. Crime is now 80% lower than in surrounding areas.

But safety was only the start. Lonehill residents pay monthly subscriptions that fund the maintenance of 14 parks, dams, koppies, playgrounds and stormwater drains. 

Spokesperson Shelly Miller said: “It’s about pride and safety. If we had waited for the City, Lonehill would have collapsed. We do everything from filling potholes and repairing stormwater drains to maintaining our 14 parks with our own tractors and lawnmowers. We also have our own ambulance and fire trucks and 400 security officers. We aim to ensure we don’t fall into decay.”

Still, funding is uneven.

“On the security side, we have 70% paying but only 50% on the community initiatives, so we do have freeloaders in the area,” she said.

Melville: Lighting the way

For Melville, darkness has become the enemy. Streetlights routinely fail across Region B. Repairs, when they come, last barely two weeks before cables are stolen again.

The Melville Business Association launched Light Up 4th Avenue, partnering with Ward 87 councillor Jonathan Thompson and activist Danyle Nunes. Residents raised funds for solar-powered floodlights, some installed on private properties to prevent theft.

Association activist Cobi Meyer explained: “We log queries for up to a year before we get a response. We did put up extra lights and installed solar at our own expense.”

Randpark Ridge: Paying to protect

The Randpark Ridge Village Association employs three full-time workers to clean parks and secure substations, and has even installed owl and bat boxes in greenbelts. They spent R5,000 renovating and securing substations after repeated vandalism.

Chairperson Inderan Govender said: “We do it for selfish reasons, to protect property values. Council neglect was driving them down. We have a team of three full-time workers and volunteers who regularly assist with the cleaning. We have massive greenbelts around the area which have to be maintained.”

Blairgowrie: Adopting parks and pools

The Blairgowrie Community Association went further than most: signing a formal agreement with the City to manage its local park, pool and recreation centre.

Co-director Harold Fleishman called it a pilot project: “City Parks and residents reached an agreement whereby the association will now play an active role in the management and upkeep of its local park, recreation centre and swimming pool. We are told this is a first for Joburg and marks a significant step for the City in empowering residents to take charge of their own community spaces for the first time. All eyes are going to be on this pilot project to see if it works.”

Residents’ donations have already upgraded playgrounds and cleaned pools. A private security company guards the park for free.

Greenside: R250,000 to secure substations

Judith Ancer, chair of the Greenside Residents’ Association, described a strategy of sheer persistence: “We just persist, persist, persist… even if it takes years. The frustration is that we get no communication back, not even an acknowledgement. We have had to resort to filling our own potholes and we have spent R250,000 on securing our own 10 substations and 45 mini power boxes. We have refurbished the boxes with welding, locks and alarms, and pay a private security company to monitor them.”

Kensington, Bez Valley and beyond: Businesses and volunteers

In Kensington, dealership manager Ravi Perumal launched Better Queen Street, with business owners cleaning, installing CCTVs and lobbying councillors.

In Bez Valley, Jeppe and Troyeville, Navin Buchu’s Keep it CKlean (KiCK) mobilises street groups to tackle dumping, plant food gardens, and pressure Pikitup.

“Street committees have been formed in the more disadvantaged areas like Bez Valley, Bertrams and Troyeville, where residents monitor their own streets and clean up. We also do bin and street audits to assist people who can’t get bins because they are tenants, even in hijacked buildings. Local residents are planting food gardens on dumping hotspots to beautify the area and keep dumpers away.”

Maraisburg: Volunteers lend helping hand

In Maraisburg, grassroots group Hands of Maraisburg cleans drains and dumping sites. Aziez Boomgaard explained: “Our leaders and municipality are hardly doing anything for us. We just decided to start cleaning the entrance to the suburb, which was overgrown with weeds, and dumping. A local business donated a bakkie and volunteers cleaned up with no help from Pikitup.”

Homestead Park: A social media war

In Homestead Park, residents are battling a massive hijacked building housing more than 1,000 people and an invaded park. Suhail Ahmed of the Homestead Community Forum said: “We have invited members attending the G20 to visit our area to see the conditions in which we live. We are sending emails, Facebook, X and Instagram posts daily to bring awareness to our plight. Our park has been invaded. An audit was done by the City and people will be moved, but it will take years.”

Lenasia: A collapsed initiative

But in Lenasia, initiatives often collapse. Community activist Zarina Motala says: “People are tired of being asked for money. We had a really successful clean-up campaign, but contributions to sustain it did not last long. Residents say: ‘We pay rates and taxes already.’ Without constant funding, initiatives die.”

JoburgCAN: An umbrella body

Launched by Outa, JoburgCAN (Johannesburg Community Action Network) aims to unite residents’ associations city wide.

The group’s Julie Fish said: “In the last 15 years there has been a total collapse of Joburg services. We have to fill the gap to get the vibe back.”

JoburgCAN trains associations, lobbies the City, and supports oversight. But she admits: that wealthier suburbs can sustain these models. Poorer ones cannot.

The City’s answer: The ‘Bomb Squad’

The City has touted its new Bomb Squad, operational since 1 June 2025, as a response to the crisis. Formed after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s critical visit, it is headed by Dr Snuki Zikalala, its only full-time paid member. The rest are volunteers.

The Bomb Squad promises a “minimum programme of high-impact visibility”: pothole repairs, traffic light maintenance, sewage clean-up and clearing illegal dumps.

Mayor Dada Morero insists it complements national interventions and will serve as his “eyes and ears”. But scepticism remains.

A number of successful clean-up projects around the city, from the inner city to Sandton, have already taken place and residents are reporting a slight improvement, but they doubt the sustainability fearing that after the G20 summit things will start deteriorating once more.

Read more: Joburg mayor delays Floyd Brink’s comeback as city manager

The Johannesburg Roads Agency, in the meantime, says residents should not be repairing their own potholes.

It has warned residents not to take matters into their own hands when it comes to fixing potholes and damaged roads. The agency stressed that such actions are unlawful under the City’s Public Road and Miscellaneous By-laws and could leave residents financially liable if accidents occur as a result of unofficial repairs.

“Repairing roads without permission is illegal,” said Johannesburg Roads Agency spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers. “Enforcement rests with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), which can issue citations against offenders who attempt illegal repairs.”

Residents should rather log service requests and wait for official maintenance teams to respond. In cases where roadworks are necessary for private projects, such as the laying of fibre cables, the proper wayleave permits must be obtained. 

Peters-Scheepers conceded that delays in service delivery often fuelled frustration, but maintained that backlogs were inevitable given the sheer number of logged complaints. 

“We advise residents to exercise patience and wait for said Johannesburg Roads Agency maintenance teams to carry out the required works,” she said.

While the agency is taking a hard line, the City’s waste management entity, Pikitup, has outlined the official process for residents requiring new or replacement bins. Mukhethwa Mudau, Pikitup’s depot manager, said only households with an official municipal account were eligible. 

Acknowledging the unique challenges in hijacked or illegally occupied buildings, Mudau said it still provided basic services such as weekly household collection, daily street cleaning and the clearing of illegal dumps. Where access control existed, skip bins and refurbished wheelie bins were also supplied in an effort to discourage indiscriminate dumping.

Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, meanwhile, said it continued to maintain the city’s green spaces in line with the Integrated Development Plan. Developed parks were serviced every 30 days, while undeveloped parks received attention on a 60-day cycle. Flagship parks, by contrast, were looked after daily, said spokesperson Jenny Moodley.

The entity admitted, however, that vandalism, theft, illegal dumping, homelessness and substance abuse were undermining the safety and quality of these public spaces.

In response, City Parks was encouraging partnerships with residents, businesses and civic organisations to co-manage facilities, said Moodley. Adoption programmes and community collaborations were being promoted as a way to keep parks safe, clean and accessible despite ongoing pressures on municipal resources.

City Power has warned that it is illegal for any unauthorised person to tamper with or repair electricity infrastructure. Only trained and certified personnel employed or contracted by the utility are allowed to work on the network, in terms of municipal by-laws.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that while frustrations over outages were understandable, tampering was “illegal, dangerous and potentially fatal”. The City’s 20,000km network was highly complex and required skilled technicians following strict safety procedures. Unauthorised work could lead to electrocution, fires, grid instability and widespread power cuts. Offenders faced criminal penalties of up to 15 years in prison.

Improper connections often caused earthing faults, creating stray currents in metal taps, gates or pipes that could shock unsuspecting residents. “Children and the elderly are particularly at risk,” Mangena said. He also urged residents not to pay so-called “technicians” offering illegal connections, warning that criminal syndicates delivered unsafe, shoddy work.

Those caught tampering faced criminal charges, heavy fines, disconnection and liability for damages or even deaths. Last year, an Eldorado Park resident suffered severe burns while attempting an illegal connection that left the area without power for two days.

Mangena stressed that residents should report outages through official channels and allow City Power’s teams to carry out repairs safely and lawfully.

A tale of two cities

Joburg’s DIY service delivery exposes a brutal divide. Residents’ voices tell a clear story: civic spirit is keeping Joburg alive. But without systemic reform, and real support from projects like the Bomb Squad and the Presidential Task Team, the poor will remain in the dark while the wealthy light their own streets.

Johannesburg’s residents are proving what the City cannot: that civic action works. But it is also exposing what the City will not admit: that only those with money can buy survival. DM