The Joburg mayor's high-impact operation left parts of the inner-city, which used to be used by informal traders, clean on October 14, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo) 
It’s usually a dictatorship or banana republic meme: the people are so scorned that big-wigs clean up and get moving only when the bwanas are coming to town.
The poor get moved. The money is found to beautify and clean. Things broken forever get fixed. The ever-off lights suddenly burn bright. The traffic gets choked so the cavalcades can move freely.
Well, here we are.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced last week there will be no power or water cuts during the G20 next weekend. In the first two quarters of the year we reported nearly 100,000 power cuts across the city.
Read more: Joburg power crisis — almost 100,000 reported outages in 9 months, 5,126 very serious
“City Power has undertaken a major overhaul of the electricity network, with over 30 substations undergoing maintenance and upgrades to ensure a reliable power supply. Streetlighting has been rehabilitated along strategic (read G20) routes, enhancing both safety and visibility.
“Critical water infrastructure, including Rand Water’s Eikenhof Pumping Station, has received reinforced power supply systems to prevent disruptions during the event,” said the City of Johannesburg in a statement this week.
Eikenhof was down last week and the inner city was out after a substation explosion this week.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ED_585925.jpg "The CEO Clean-Up Campaign at Joubert Park on 12 November 2025 in Johannesburg. This three-day campaign brought together the major and Johannesburg's leading CEOs to restore the cleanliness and functionality of key precincts. (Photo: Gallo lmages / Fani Mahuntsi)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ED_585928.jpg "CEO Clean-Up Campaign workers in action. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ED_585929.jpg "Litter is removed as part of the CEO Clean-Up Campaign. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo)")
When we went back to the hotspots for power cuts last month (Vlakfontein, Claremont, Alex, Emmarentia), the communities reported some improvement since our last visit.
But water problems had taken over. Besides the normal water cuts, Johannesburg Water throttled water for between 10 and 14 hours a day in September, and these are likely to get longer through summer. Throttling is like load shedding but for water.
Alex Patrick reported in News24 here this week that Johannesburg Water’s debt had grown to R1-billion.
Read more: Joburg water crisis disrupts schools, imperils health, fuels crime, say protesters
In case Lesufi’s promise can’t be met, “Emergency contingency measures, including mobile water tanks and sanitation services, are in place to address any unforeseen incidents swiftly,” said the City’s press release.
Banana republics also clear the street of people they don’t want visitors to see, which began on Thursday in Joburg.
Lighting up the city
For years, I’m telling you, years, there haven’t been lights on the highways into the city from the airport. In December last year, I went to Dakar in Senegal, and one of the things to notice was that all, every one, of the lights on the highway to the city from the airport worked. It was an odd thing to notice. I did the same on visits to Beijing and Shanghai earlier this year.
The tyranny of my lowered expectations made me notice things that most citizens take for granted. The G20 has changed things for parts of our highways.
Now most of the lights on the R24 are burning bright, with the roads resurfaced, the verges trimmed (for the first time in years — for too long the grass grew long enough to hide who knows what). On the N3 transition all the lights are on and Gilooly’s has been revamped with clear signage and safety signs painted.
The N12 was still a mess when we tested it coming off the N3 to Alberton — no lights and very dark. But head south toward Nasrec (where the G20 will be held) and things get much better. The Xavier Street bridge is well lit.
But go further south approaching South Gate and it’s very dark. The area around Nasrec’s had a welcome clean-up: the approach is clearly demarcated (the signs used to be faded and falling down).
The M12/N1/Soweto Highway connector is bright and road conditions are great — the N1 going north towards the Soweto Highway is all very, very well lit and all the traffic lights on Nasrec Road are working. This is often not the case. The off-ramp of the M1 to Nasrec was dark with signage MIA.
But if you’re using the M2 West to Nasrec, it wasn’t so good when we tested. Parts are completely dark and the overpass and bridges before Cleveland are not well lit.
But if you go to the other end of the city near the Joe Slovo off-ramp, it’s very dark under the End Street bridge.
It’s much better than it was, but still patchy. If you’re lucky enough to live on the routes that the 67 (or so) heads of state will use in Johannesburg next weekend, life is looking better. The government feels present rather than its usual weighty absence in our lives.
Get off the route and it is still business as usual, many readers have told us, as our letters show. It’s all been done for the G20 as much as the City may protest otherwise.
In a statement on 11 November 2025, the City announced: “Johannesburg is as ready as it will ever be for the G20 Summit.” It should have added that the routes the powerful will travel are ready and that the system will be managed to ensure they don’t suffer the water or power cuts that are our normal.
The potholes have been repaired and road signs repainted, but the underlying road networks need a complete overhaul, most engineers agree. All our systems — water, power, roads, bridges — do.
What we have received is cosmetic and performative change, and it’s clear from our readers’ letters that you know this. DM