ActionSA leader and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba has pledged a sweeping overhaul of the city’s administration, promising to dismantle municipal entities, recruit 500 police officers and introduce a funded budget within his first 100 days in office.
Mashaba, who cast his ballot with his family at the Sandton Fire Station on Wednesday, said Johannesburg needed decisive administrative and financial intervention to reverse years of deteriorating service delivery.
Speaking to Sunday World during Wednesday’s local government elections, Mashaba said his immediate priority would be to establish the true financial position of the municipality and present a funded budget to council by the end of February.
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He claimed the city was currently operating on an unfunded budget, although he acknowledged that the full extent of the financial shortfall would only become clear once his administration took office.
“My first priority is to really prepare a funded budget. I’m sure you are aware that the current budget that the City of Johannesburg is running with is unfunded,” he said.
“To what extent, we don’t know as yet, but we can only get accurate numbers once we are in office.”
Additional police officers
Mashaba also put public safety at the centre of his proposed first 100 days, promising to table the employment of 500 additional police officers in the city’s adjustment budget.
He argued that Johannesburg’s worsening crime situation could not be addressed through political promises alone, but required a properly funded and adequately staffed law enforcement operation.
“The safety of our people is not going to happen because people go to church. It’s going to happen because we’ve got boots on the ground,” he said.
He described the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) as underfunded and understaffed, arguing that officers needed adequate resources, equipment and leadership to fulfil their responsibilities.
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Another priority, he said, would be appointing a competent city manager to oversee the administration while elected politicians provided strategic direction.
But perhaps his most far-reaching proposal is to seek the dissolution of the city’s municipal entities, including City Power, Joburg Water and the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO).
Mashaba said he intended to present a report to council within his first 100 days proposing that the entities be scrapped, arguing that they had become financial liabilities and were slowing down service delivery.
He said the city also needed revenue-enhancement programmes to generate money for essential services, infrastructure maintenance and the strengthening of the JMPD.
Infrastructure backlog could top R200bn
Addressing Johannesburg’s persistent water shortages, electricity disruptions, sewage problems and deteriorating roads, Mashaba promised to conduct a comprehensive infrastructure assessment and make the findings available to residents.
He recalled that an assessment conducted shortly after he became mayor in 2016 identified an infrastructure backlog of approximately R170-billion.
He believes the figure could now exceed R200-billion, although he stressed that a new assessment would be needed to establish the actual amount.
“I will do that exercise and take you into confidence as residents, to show you how much we need for roads, water, sewerage, bridges and so forth,” he said.
Mashaba also sought to highlight the unequal impact of service delivery failures across Johannesburg, arguing that the city’s problems were particularly severe in townships and historically disadvantaged communities.
He pointed to Soweto and Alexandra, saying residents in these areas faced not only water and electricity challenges but also crime and deteriorating living conditions.
“The city of Johannesburg is not only facing a water crisis. It’s facing all manner of poor services or non-existent services,” he said.
“We need a decisive leader committed to all South Africans regardless of their postcode.”
He also raised concerns about foreign nationals involved in drug dealing and their alleged impact on communities, particularly vulnerable neighbourhoods.
‘Vote failing politicians out’
Asked how he would ensure his promises did not become another set of unfulfilled political slogans, Mashaba challenged voters to hold elected leaders accountable.
He said residents should not hesitate to remove politicians who failed to deliver on their commitments.
“We need to start respecting the intelligence of our voters. The voters know what to do. When a politician promises you something and they fail to do it, then next time vote them out,” he said.
Mashaba said he had spent the past six months campaigning across Johannesburg alongside his designated mayoral committee members, whom he claimed had already been identified on the basis of merit.
He said he had earmarked 10 MMC candidates ahead of the election to ensure that his administration could begin working immediately if elected.
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“Not my friends. They are there because of merit,” he said.
He also urged residents to turn out in large numbers, warning that abstaining from voting could indirectly benefit whichever political party secured the majority.
“By you not voting, you’ve actually voted,” he said.
Mashaba further claimed that reports from his campaign teams indicated long queues at voting stations in Soweto and Alexandra.
He expressed concern that Johannesburg could experience the same political and service delivery divisions he believes have affected black communities in Cape Town, making controversial remarks about the Democratic Alliance’s mayor in that city.
- ActionSA leader and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba has pledged a sweeping overhaul of the city’s administration, promising to dismantle municipal entities, recruit 500 police officers and introduce a funded budget within his first 100 days in office.
- Mashaba, who cast his ballot with his family at the Sandton Fire Station on Wednesday, said Johannesburg needed decisive administrative and financial intervention to reverse years of deteriorating service delivery.
- Speaking to Sunday World during Wednesday’s local government elections, Mashaba said his immediate priority would be to establish the true financial position of the municipality and present a funded budget to council by the end of February.
- READ: Elections 2026 | Mary Phadi’s ActionSA comeback faces ballot box test He claimed the city was currently operating on an unfunded budget, although he acknowledged that the full extent of the financial shortfall would only become clear once his administration took office.
- “My first priority is to really prepare a funded budget.
