{"id":270187,"date":"2023-06-21T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T07:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=270187"},"modified":"2023-06-24T05:20:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T05:20:49","slug":"africas-richest-city-is-crumbling-under-chaos-and-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=270187","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s Richest City Is Crumbling Under Chaos and Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"
The streets go dark during periods of loadshedding in Johannesburg.<\/div>\n

By S’thembile Cele<\/a> \u2013 Bloomberg June 16, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Solomon Owa\u2019s fingers work quickly as he speaks over the hum of his sewing machine. That\u2019s because the hum of his sewing machine might stop at any moment. \u201cIn a few minutes, the power will go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old runs a tailoring business from his garage in Johannesburg. Outages leave him idle for up to 10 hours a day. Surrounded by piles of colorful material, he needs to work while he can.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Solomon Owa keeps busy while the power is on\u00a0at his workshop\u00a0in the\u00a0Johannesburg suburb of Orange Grove\u00a0on May 23.<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s a rush that South Africans have begrudgingly become accustomed to as they\u2019re forced to use more and more ingenuity to navigate daily life: Charge devices, take a shower before the hot water goes off and leave the house before the traffic lights go out<\/a>. Schools, hospitals, restaurants and businesses rely on backup generators to keep running. Homeless people guide vehicles through potholed streets for cash.<\/p>\n

The continent\u2019s richest city was built on gold, but\u00a0it\u2019s now defined by chaos, crime and corruption<\/a> more than ever. It\u00a0encapsulates\u00a0the wider collapse of basic services across South Africa. From a broken railway network disrupting trade to archaic sanitation that triggered a recent cholera outbreak<\/a> near the capital, Pretoria, parts of the country increasingly look\u00a0like a failing\u00a0state.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the dysfunction in Johannesburg is a governance crisis. Since the country\u2019s governing national party, the African National Congress, lost control of the city in 2016, unstable coalitions have resulted in six mayors in four years. The current leader is a member of a party that holds 1% of the municipality\u2019s 270 seats..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Huge holes in the road are commonplace in Johannesburg.<\/p><\/div>\n

Services and maintenance are the most visible casualty.\u00a0Then there are the rolling blackouts<\/a> implemented by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.<\/p>\n

The state-owned power utility, which has become a byword in recent years for South Africa\u2019s troubles, has a\u00a0fleet of coal-fired power stations that are old, poorly maintained and badly designed. The shutdowns are known locally as \u201cloadshedding\u201d and last for up to four and a half\u00a0hours at a time.<\/p>\n

The country\u00a0still functions, but the hurdles are getting higher.\u00a0\u201cWe may not be at a point in\u00a0South Africa where we are\u00a0a failed state, but we are certainly a failed government,\u201d said Tessa Dooms, director of policy at Rivonia Circle<\/a>, a non-profit organization whose stated aim is to transform South Africa into a \u201crobust, sustainable democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t feel the effects of having a failed state because of other sectors of society\u00a0continuing to function,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cBut we certainly are feeling the effects of failed governance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A fallen traffic light is still working when the power is on. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Johannesburg needed 300 billion rand ($16.3\u00a0billion) to build new infrastructure \u2014\u00a0power, water, sanitation \u2014\u00a0and make repairs, according to former Mayor Mpho Phalatse, who was voted out of office in January. The current administration plans to spend the lion\u2019s share of its latest budget on \u201csustainable services\u201d to help clear the backlog of improvements.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about 60 billion rand, according to the plan unveiled on June 13 by Dada Morero, another former mayor and now an ANC member of the finance committee.\u00a0\u201cWhile we are cognizant of the growing backlogs, we are limited in our ability to respond due to the suppressed revenue performance in recent years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Johannesburg became Africa\u2019s richest city thanks to a gold rush that started in the late 19th\u00a0century and continued through the apartheid era. The metropolis of more than 5 million people then became the economic dynamo of Nelson Mandela\u2019s \u201cRainbow Nation\u201d and the hope for prosperity that came with it.<\/p>\n

Almost half of the population is unemployed and living in poverty.\u00a0Nationwide,\u00a0the jobless rate stands at 32.9%. Around 18 million people rely on some form of social aid, which makes the number of beneficiaries twice as many as registered taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, crime has proliferated. The once flourishing central business district is an eyesore where derelict buildings are hijacked by criminal syndicates, forcing out major commercial operations from the area. For more petty criminals, in vogue are cables and metals that can be stolen from electricity substations and sold on the black market. Others just try to connect to the grid illegally.<\/p>\n

The power cuts make the morning and evening commute an obstacle course as motorists weave around gaping holes<\/a>, uncovered manholes, unattended sinkholes and exposed power cables. Seeing homeless people in groups of up to 10 control traffic when the lights go out is now a common occurrence<\/p>\n

\"\"

A self-appointed traffic controller wearing a\u00a0sponsored hi-vis\u00a0vest<\/p><\/div>\n

Given Masiyendi, a self-appointed traffic controller, moved to Johannesburg eight years ago from his village in\u00a0Venda more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. Things didn\u2019t go his way and he found himself on the streets. His latest gig has proven more lucrative than begging.<\/p>\n

In the morning, Masiyendi goes to a corner shop where the owner gives him the loadshedding schedule for the day so he can position himself by the traffic lights when they go out.<\/p>\n

Motorists embrace the makeshift solution to keep traffic moving, given a trip that should take 15 minutes can end up being two hours. On an average day Masiyendi says he can make up to 300 rand in tips from drivers.<\/p>\n

Officials are less happy. \u201cPolice have been the most hostile towards us,\u201d said Masiyendi, 32. They get picked up and dumped on the outskirts of the city, he said. \u201cOur only crime is directing traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Almost half of Johannesburg\u2019s\u00a0population is unemployed and living in poverty<\/p><\/div>\n

The outages also provide the cover of darkness for more serious misdemeanor. In Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, 12 mini local substations costing 700,000 rand each, have had to be replaced in the space of two weeks.<\/p>\n

Residents in the suburb of Fleurhof went without power for six days after a transformer was stolen during loadshedding between 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. one night. Local resident Sipho Masigo, 45, said he had to rely on a small gas cylinder to heat water and barbecue what they could.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our food for the month was spoilt,\u201d he said on his\u00a0street near the vandalized electricity station, eerily quiet except for the buzz of a generator coming from the only house with lights. \u201cOn day four we had to take out all the meat, braai<\/em> it, eat it and give the rest away.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Power, which procures electricity from Eskom and distributes it in Johannesburg<\/a>, reckons it lost more than 500 million rand over the past year as a result of materials damaged or stolen during loadshedding. The infrastructure is unable to cope with the surge that comes with the return of power, which damages cables and substations, prolonging darkness for days at a time.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the question of whether they can get hold of the supply in the first place. \u201cAs a business we pay around 19 billion rand to Eskom for electricity annually, but half the time we don\u2019t get that electricity,\u201d said City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena. \u201cIt means that we have wasted that money and we are not making any profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eskom Chairman Mpho Makwana said in an interview with Bloomberg<\/a> on June 9 that a change in management structure has helped improve performance and blackouts are being reduced.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s probably little conciliation to Justice Ikechukwu Oparaugo. His small restaurant in the inner city has been hit by both crime and power outages.<\/p>\n

The once lucrative business is now on its last legs because of energy insecurity. Oparaugo, 52, was forced to dismiss half his staff and move to a smaller premises, but he is still losing money. On a day last month, he had cooked 2,000 rand worth of food and sold only a fifth of that. A local gang also demanded that he pay\u00a0350 rand a week in protection money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the morning I can no longer start cooking early like I used to because they take electricity,\u201d said Oparaugo, who added that he couldn\u2019t afford to buy a generator or switch to gas like some larger restaurants. \u201cWhen you wake up, it\u2019s not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of business leaders have raised the alarm over\u00a0the nation\u2019s current trajectory.\u00a0The central bank estimates that power cuts\u00a0cost the economy<\/a>\u00a0900 million rand a day and will shave\u00a0two\u00a0percentage points off this year\u2019s growth rate.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, they met with President Cyril Ramaphosa and pledged their support in the three critical areas of energy, logistics and law and order, according to\u00a0Cas Coovadia, chief executive officer of lobby group Business Unity South Africa.<\/p>\n

For Solomon Owa, the tailor, it feels like he\u2019s been here before. Now married with two children, he moved to South Africa 23 years ago from Nigeria\u2019s Delta state as the country faced energy insecurity that crippled the economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first sign of decay he noticed was the dirt, how he needed to polish his shoes more often, he said. Then came the rest. \u201cWhat happens when the lights go out? Vandalizing starts,\u201d he said. \u201cMy country went the same way, the same route. After some years, things fall apart. Everything is gone.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n