The Ekurhuleni Metro, once touted as the industrial heartland of South Africa, is teetering on the edge of a critical breakdown.
A dire combination of crumbling infrastructure, soaring financial decay, and rampant criminality has turned the manufacturing powerhouse into a flashpoint of economic crisis and severe public safety risks.
According to the Auditor-General’s (AG) consolidated report on local government outcomes for the 2024/25 financial year, non-technical electricity losses in the metro have climbed to R10.55 billion.
The municipality’s audit outcomes have also deteriorated since the 2021/22 financial year, when it achieved a clean audit. This was followed by two consecutive years of unqualified audits with findings, before the municipality received a qualified audit with findings in the year under review.
In the indicators used to track underinvestment in municipal assets at metros, the AG found that Ekurhuleni’s capital expenditure was less than 10% of total expenditure, while repairs and maintenance accounted for less than 8% of operating expenditure.
This has also contributed to water losses of R5.02bn.
The AG cited a high level of political instability, with three mayors having led the metro since the 2021 local government elections, including weaknesses in the control environment, as contributors to the regression in the metro’s audit outcomes.
“We also called on the mayor to strengthen political oversight of the implementation of audit action plans and to demand regular reporting from the administration on progress in resolving longstanding revenue, receivables, procurement and contract management issues and service delivery risks,” the report read.
“The metro must urgently address concerns relating to governance, institutional integrity and accountability to restore trust, improve outcomes and support reliable service delivery.”
Ward 23 councillor Gerald Goslin said electricity outages were contributing to crime.
“The power outages are definitely adding to crime, especially in residential areas like Bonaero Park, where there’s a high probability that when the power goes out, someone’s house is broken into,” he said.
“Service delivery is an integral part of our society’s functioning if rates and taxes are being paid for these services to be delivered. But people don’t go around thinking that the grass needs to be cut until something like (the murders) happens, and then they react.”
Nine women have been found dead across Ekurhuleni since July. Four of them were found in the Kempton Park area, which is also part of Ward 23.
“The fact of the matter is that we’re working with extremely old infrastructure, and what the municipality has resorted to is what they call ‘forced maintenance’, which means they wait until it breaks and then they fix it,” Goslin said.
“We have areas that have been taken over, and there is open drug dealing. It’s strange that they seem to know when the power is about to go out and are prepared. It’s in sections of different wards. One suspects there’s definitely a syndicate that’s working, and we believe that they’ve also infiltrated our departments.”
Another ward councillor, Mike du Toit, said electricity was now an existential issue for business.
“Our electricity infrastructure is in danger of collapsing. This, in fact, is an existential problem because without electricity, industry will all disappear. Ekurhuleni is the industrial heartland of South Africa. It is a manufacturing city, and we’re starting to lose manufacturers.”
He said the biggest contributor to outages was vandalism and theft.
“We had a big issue with high-voltage cable theft, which was brought under control. But we are now suffering from what started during load-shedding, when thieves discovered they could safely dig up cables. Now we are left with a legacy of cable faults, which are a weekly occurrence.
“Last year, the biggest account in the Springs CCC section was Mpact. And they closed down. They closed their paper machine. That machine alone drew 8MW of electricity, which was probably 4% or 5% of the electricity used in Springs. So that’s market share that’s gone.”
He also raised concerns about the metro’s deteriorating financial position.
“This city had a cash balance of R8.3bn in 2016. Today, it’s down to R1.2bn. In 2016, the creditors were R4.8bn, and today they are R17bn. This is a serious situation.”
Ekurhuleni spokesperson Phakamile Mbengashe had not responded to questions sent by the time of publication.
However, steps are being taken to deal with some of the electricity issues affecting the metro. City of Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza was recently joined by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to witness the switching on of transformers to restore electricity to the residents of Tswelopele, Tembisa.
Some of the residents had been without power for more than five years.
ntsikelelo.qoyo@nationalmg.co.za