Johannesburg residents no longer need statistics to know the city is in trouble.
They experience it every day when taps run dry, roads collapse, traffic lights stop working, refuse goes uncollected, businesses lose confidence and lawlessness spreads through communities that once functioned with dignity and order.
Johannesburg is no longer failing slowly. It is normalising tailure.
And perhaps the most dangerous part is that many residents have started adjusting their lives around dysfunction that should never have become acceptable in the first place.
For too long, political debate in Johannesburg has been dominated by personalities, slogans, coalition arithmetic and endless political theatre. Meanwhile, residents continue paying more while receiving less. Communities are frustrated. Businesses are uncertain. Entire neighbourhoods increasingly feel abandoned by those entrusted to govern them.
This reality was once again brought into sharp focus recently when Executive Mayor Dada Morero delivered his State of the City Address, presenting his administration’s view of Johannesburg’s condition and future direction. Earlier, ActionSA’s mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, delivered what he termed the “Real State of the City Address” – a grounded intervention shaped by the lived experiences of residents who continue to endure collapsing service delivery, decaying infrastructure and growing insecurity across the city.
The contrast between these two addresses reflects the broader political question now confronting Johannesburg residents: whether the city’s decline can continue to be managed through political messaging, or whether serious intervention and capable governance are finally required.
The upcoming local government election on 4 November 2026 cannot simply become another contest of personalities, slogans and political noise.
Johannesburg is no longer asking who can win.
It is asking who can fix and govern the city decisively.
That is the real political question now emerging across communities, businesses, civic organisations and among ordinary residents who increasingly feel that Johannesburg is drifting deeper into managed decline.
And in many respects, this is precisely why Herman Mashaba’s leadership proposition continues to resonate across different parts of the city. Residents may not agree with him on every issue – democracy does not work that way – but there is growing recognition that Johannesburg requires a far more serious conversation about governance than we have seen in recent years.
Mashaba understands Johannesburg not as a talking point, but as a system. He has governed the city before. He understands its bureaucracy, infrastructure pressures, financial instability, law enforcement weaknesses and operational complexity. More importantly, he understands what weak governance and political indecision ultimately cost ordinary residents.
At a time when much of modern politics is increasingly reduced to slogans, visibility and social media moments, ActionSA has attempted to demonstrate something more substantive through the announcement of Herman Mashaba’s Mayoral Campaign Governance Team as part of the broader #OperationFixloburg project.
The significance of this initiative has not always been fully appreciated.
This was never intended to be a premature executive list or an exercise in internal political positioning.
It was designed as a campaign-linked governance platform bringing together individuals with backgrounds in law, infrastructure, finance, governance, public safety, economic development and community activism to help shape practical solutions while strengthening issue-based engagements across the city.
The broader message behind this initiative is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: Johannesburg cannot afford another administration defined by indecision, instability and reactive governance.
The city requires leadership prepared to act decisively, confront decline directly and restore confidence in government itself.
Johannesburg cannot be fixed through political performance alone. It requires operational discipline, implementation capacity and leadership prepared to engage difficult realities honestly.
Importantly, many of the individuals involved are not career politicians. They are professionals, administrators, activists and community leaders who have stepped forward because they recognise the seriousness of Johannesburg’s decline and the urgency of restoring capable governance.
Residents are increasingly tired of politicians who speak confidently about problems they have never demonstrated the ability to solve. They want leadership that understands implementation, accountability and delivery.
Importantly, the Johannesburg election is no longer unfolding as a simple two-party contest. Multiple parties have now introduced mayoral candidates and are seeking to persuade residents that they offer a credible path forward for the city. That is healthy for democracy.
But in a fragmented political environment, Johannesburg residents should ask a deeper question beyond campaign visibility and political branding:
Who is genuinely prepared to govern this city decisively on 5 November 2026?
Because governing Johannesburg requires far more than speeches and media moments. It requires administrative depth, political courage, operational understanding and leadership capable of managing one of the most complex metropolitan governments on the African continent.
Across Gauteng, residents are increasingly demanding leaders prepared to govern, not merely comment on collapse. In Tshwane, under the leadership of Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, residents are already seeing what becomes possible when political courage is combined with administrative seriousness and a relentless focus on service delivery. In Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg, new campaign energy is emerging around leaders focused on restoring dignity to communities through practical governance rather than empty rhetoric.
This broader shift matters because Gauteng’s metros are deeply interconnected. When Johannesburg declines, the economic and social consequences are felt throughout the province and ultimately across South Africa.
Fixing Johannesburg therefore requires more than media moments and carefully managed perceptions.
It requires rebuilding institutional capacity, restoring financial discipline,
enforcing bylaws,
confronting criminality, repairing infrastructure, professionalising the public service and rebuilding public confidence in local government itself.
It also requires leadership willing to restore the rule of law consistently and without fear or favour.
Across many communities, residents increasingly feel that basic governance standards have collapsed from illegal land occupation and hijacked buildings to unregulated trading, unsate business practices and widespread non-compliance with municipal bylaws.
These are not abstract political debates. They are daily governance realities affecting the quality of life, safety and dignity of ordinary residents.
A city that stops enforcing its own rules eventually stops functioning altogether.
And across too many parts of Johannesburg, residents increasingly feel that this is exactly what is happening.
But Johannesburg can still work.
The city still possesses extraordinary economic potential, resilient communities, entrepreneurial energ) and residents who desperately want to believe that competent government is still possible.
The challenge before voters in 2026 is therefore bigger than party politics. It is about deciding whether Johannesburg continues drifting deeper into decline, or whether the city finally begins the difficult but necessary process of rebuilding itself into a functional, investable and governable metropolis again.
ActionSA’s #OperationFixloburg is rooted in a simple belief:
Johannesburg does not lack potential. It lacks leadership.
And unless leadership capable of confronting decline directly emerges soon, residents risk becoming permanently trapped in a city where dysfunction is no longer treated as a crisis – but simply as normal.
The real question before Johannesburg residents in 2026 is therefore no longer simply who can win an election.
It is who is genuinely prepared to fix and govern the city decisively.
Because Johannesburg does not need another political performance.
It needs leadership prepared to make the city work again.
Johannesburg Is No Longer Asking Who Can Win – But Who Can Fix and Govern the City Decisively
Johannesburg residents no longer need statistics to know the city is in trouble.
They experience it every day when taps run dry, roads collapse, traffic lights stop working, refuse goes uncollected, businesses lose confidence and lawlessness spreads through communities that once functioned with dignity and order.
Johannesburg is no longer failing slowly. It is normalising tailure.
And perhaps the most dangerous part is that many residents have started adjusting their lives around dysfunction that should never have become acceptable in the first place.
For too long, political debate in Johannesburg has been dominated by personalities, slogans, coalition arithmetic and endless political theatre. Meanwhile, residents continue paying more while receiving less. Communities are frustrated. Businesses are uncertain. Entire neighbourhoods increasingly feel abandoned by those entrusted to govern them.
This reality was once again brought into sharp focus recently when Executive Mayor Dada Morero delivered his State of the City Address, presenting his administration’s view of Johannesburg’s condition and future direction. Earlier, ActionSA’s mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, delivered what he termed the “Real State of the City Address” – a grounded intervention shaped by the lived experiences of residents who continue to endure collapsing service delivery, decaying infrastructure and growing insecurity across the city.
The contrast between these two addresses reflects the broader political question now confronting Johannesburg residents: whether the city’s decline can continue to be managed through political messaging, or whether serious intervention and capable governance are finally required.
The upcoming local government election on 4 November 2026 cannot simply become another contest of personalities, slogans and political noise.
Johannesburg is no longer asking who can win.
It is asking who can fix and govern the city decisively.
That is the real political question now emerging across communities, businesses, civic organisations and among ordinary residents who increasingly feel that Johannesburg is drifting deeper into managed decline.
And in many respects, this is precisely why Herman Mashaba’s leadership proposition continues to resonate across different parts of the city. Residents may not agree with him on every issue – democracy does not work that way – but there is growing recognition that Johannesburg requires a far more serious conversation about governance than we have seen in recent years.
Mashaba understands Johannesburg not as a talking point, but as a system. He has governed the city before. He understands its bureaucracy, infrastructure pressures, financial instability, law enforcement weaknesses and operational complexity. More importantly, he understands what weak governance and political indecision ultimately cost ordinary residents.
At a time when much of modern politics is increasingly reduced to slogans, visibility and social media moments, ActionSA has attempted to demonstrate something more substantive through the announcement of Herman Mashaba’s Mayoral Campaign Governance Team as part of the broader #OperationFixloburg project.
The significance of this initiative has not always been fully appreciated.
This was never intended to be a premature executive list or an exercise in internal political positioning.
It was designed as a campaign-linked governance platform bringing together individuals with backgrounds in law, infrastructure, finance, governance, public safety, economic development and community activism to help shape practical solutions while strengthening issue-based engagements across the city.
The broader message behind this initiative is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: Johannesburg cannot afford another administration defined by indecision, instability and reactive governance.
The city requires leadership prepared to act decisively, confront decline directly and restore confidence in government itself.
Johannesburg cannot be fixed through political performance alone. It requires operational discipline, implementation capacity and leadership prepared to engage difficult realities honestly.
Importantly, many of the individuals involved are not career politicians. They are professionals, administrators, activists and community leaders who have stepped forward because they recognise the seriousness of Johannesburg’s decline and the urgency of restoring capable governance.
Residents are increasingly tired of politicians who speak confidently about problems they have never demonstrated the ability to solve. They want leadership that understands implementation, accountability and delivery.
Importantly, the Johannesburg election is no longer unfolding as a simple two-party contest. Multiple parties have now introduced mayoral candidates and are seeking to persuade residents that they offer a credible path forward for the city. That is healthy for democracy.
But in a fragmented political environment, Johannesburg residents should ask a deeper question beyond campaign visibility and political branding:
Who is genuinely prepared to govern this city decisively on 5 November 2026?
Because governing Johannesburg requires far more than speeches and media moments. It requires administrative depth, political courage, operational understanding and leadership capable of managing one of the most complex metropolitan governments on the African continent.
Across Gauteng, residents are increasingly demanding leaders prepared to govern, not merely comment on collapse. In Tshwane, under the leadership of Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, residents are already seeing what becomes possible when political courage is combined with administrative seriousness and a relentless focus on service delivery. In Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg, new campaign energy is emerging around leaders focused on restoring dignity to communities through practical governance rather than empty rhetoric.
This broader shift matters because Gauteng’s metros are deeply interconnected. When Johannesburg declines, the economic and social consequences are felt throughout the province and ultimately across South Africa.
Fixing Johannesburg therefore requires more than media moments and carefully managed perceptions.
It requires rebuilding institutional capacity, restoring financial discipline,
enforcing bylaws,
confronting criminality, repairing infrastructure, professionalising the public service and rebuilding public confidence in local government itself.
It also requires leadership willing to restore the rule of law consistently and without fear or favour.
Across many communities, residents increasingly feel that basic governance standards have collapsed from illegal land occupation and hijacked buildings to unregulated trading, unsate business practices and widespread non-compliance with municipal bylaws.
These are not abstract political debates. They are daily governance realities affecting the quality of life, safety and dignity of ordinary residents.
A city that stops enforcing its own rules eventually stops functioning altogether.
And across too many parts of Johannesburg, residents increasingly feel that this is exactly what is happening.
But Johannesburg can still work.
The city still possesses extraordinary economic potential, resilient communities, entrepreneurial energ) and residents who desperately want to believe that competent government is still possible.
The challenge before voters in 2026 is therefore bigger than party politics. It is about deciding whether Johannesburg continues drifting deeper into decline, or whether the city finally begins the difficult but necessary process of rebuilding itself into a functional, investable and governable metropolis again.
ActionSA’s #OperationFixloburg is rooted in a simple belief:
Johannesburg does not lack potential. It lacks leadership.
And unless leadership capable of confronting decline directly emerges soon, residents risk becoming permanently trapped in a city where dysfunction is no longer treated as a crisis – but simply as normal.
The real question before Johannesburg residents in 2026 is therefore no longer simply who can win an election.
It is who is genuinely prepared to fix and govern the city decisively.
Because Johannesburg does not need another political performance.
It needs leadership prepared to make the city work again.