African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula has declared war on Johannesburg’s collapse, unveiling a 100-day recovery plan to stabilise water and electricity, fix pothole-riddled roads, overhaul billing chaos, and force the city to work for residents again.
In a detailed 13-point political blueprint released this week, Zungula said Johannesburg’s decay was not an accident but the result of deliberate neglect, political instability and a municipality that has forgotten who owns it.
“The challenges facing the City of Johannesburg did not develop overnight. They are the result of years of infrastructure deterioration, inadequate maintenance, political instability, weak financial controls, administrative inefficiencies and a growing disconnect between the municipality and the residents it is meant to serve,” Zungula said.
Johannesburg is the economic heartbeat of South Africa, but Zungula said that heart is failing.
“Too many residents struggle to access reliable water and electricity, travel on roads riddled with potholes, live with inconsistent waste collection and navigate municipal offices that are increasingly disconnected from their everyday needs,” he said.
His message is blunt: the next administration cannot survive on election slogans and mayoral chain ceremonies.
“These challenges require more than election promises, political speeches or the appointment of a new administration. They require a government that understands that municipal resources belong to the people,” he said.
Under an ATM-led government, the first 100 days would focus on five non-negotiables: establishing a functioning government, stabilising essential services, restoring financial discipline, professionalising entities, and rebuilding public trust.
Zungula’s priority number one is infrastructure. Not new vanity projects, but fixing what is broken.
“The most immediate priority will be the restoration and stabilisation of essential municipal services. Water, electricity, roads, waste management and safe public spaces are not privileges. They are fundamental responsibilities,” he said.
He promised to force Johannesburg Water and City Power to submit practical recovery plans with “a responsible official, an implementation timetable, a budget and measurable performance indicators” – ending the culture of emergency repairs only after systems have collapsed.
If water is the first crisis, billing is the second. Zungula said Johannesburg’s broken billing system is bankrupting both the City and its residents.
“Residents and businesses who receive incorrect, inconsistent or unexplained bills are often forced to spend months attempting to resolve disputes,” he said.
Within 100 days, he would order a full audit of metering, billing and revenue systems, create a verified register of all disputes, and set up dedicated resolution teams with turnaround times and reference numbers.
“Residents are more likely to fulfil their obligations when the City demonstrates that it is equally committed to fulfilling its own,” Zungula said.
That revenue is critical. Johannesburg has an R97 billion budget, but Zungula said its effectiveness must be measured “by the services it delivers, the infrastructure it maintains, the revenue it collects and the value residents receive.”
He also vowed to crack down on “wasteful, irregular, fruitless and unauthorised expenditure” and illegal connections bleeding water and electricity.
In a direct appeal to small business, Zungula promised to end the practice where SMMEs do work for the City and wait months to be paid.
“An ATM-led administration will treat the timely payment of legitimate municipal obligations as a financial management priority,” he said, announcing a 100-day review of all outstanding SMME invoices and a prioritised settlement programme.
He also took aim at the millions wasted on office rentals while services collapse. He wants to restore Metro Centre as the central hub and review all lease agreements.
“Every rand spent on unnecessary administrative overhead is a rand that cannot be used elsewhere to improve the lives of residents,” he said.
On municipal entities, Zungula promised to end cadre deployment to boards.
“Board membership should never be treated as a reward for political loyalty, personal connections or participation in political arrangements,” he said, adding that boards must have real skills – finance, engineering, law, audit – and must stop “merely endorsing management proposals without meaningful scrutiny.”
CEOs earning millions while services fail will be put on performance agreements with quarterly targets.
Finally, Zungula said the mayor must leave the office and hit the streets.
“Residents should not have to organise protests, block roads or attract media attention before their concerns are taken seriously,” he said.
“The mayor’s office must become a point of coordination for resolving systemic failures rather than a platform for political ceremonies and public relations exercises.”
His plan includes regional community engagements, a transparent tracking system for complaints, and quarterly public progress reports.
Zungula was clear that 100 days cannot undo decades of rot, but it can prove the City is finally moving.
“Johannesburg does not need more promises. It needs a government that works, a municipality that accounts for every rand, and leaders who understand that public office is a responsibility to serve,” he said.