JOHANNESBURG - Water will likely dominate Gauteng’s State of the Province Address (SOPA), just as it did last year.
Political analyst Dirk Kotzé says Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi prepares to deliver the SOPA under pressure to provide clear plans and solutions to service delivery and infrastructure crises in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.
Gauteng residents are also beset by illegal mining and high crime rates.
READ | Lesufi told to commit to realistic outcomes ahead of SOPA
Kotzé views President Cyril Ramaphosa’s establishing a national water crisis committee as reflection that the executive can no longer trust provincial governments to fix their water problems.
“It's not anymore an issue of the province or local government. National government has now decided to enter this situation, which is to a large extent actually a type of a motion of no confidence in the province,” he says.
But the pressure on Lesufi extends beyond the tap.
In Thembisa, residents are protesting against high electricity tariffs and planned disconnections.
READ | Thembisa shutdown cuts off access to hospitals, schools and main routes
Kotzé says the premier cannot apportion this and other service delivery crises to budget alone provinces operate within a system of “concurrent powers”, meaning they share power with national government
This gives provinces direct access to national support.
For the 2025 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) period, provinces and municipalities were allocated R2.95 trillion of total non-interest spending.
Of this amount, R2.4 trillion went to provinces and local government got R552.7 billion
Taking this into account, Kotzé says the problem is not necessarily a lack of funds, but rather how that money is spent and whether Gauteng is using its authority effectively.
Kotzé therefore says Lesufi cannot shift blame to municipalities or national government; he must show clear leadership