South Africa’s capital collapsing in front of everyone’s eyes
The Freedom Front Plus has raised concerns about infrastructure collapse and electricity and water outages in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
Freedom Front Plus Tshwane mayoral candidate Willie Spies discussed the problems in an interview with Pretoria FM on Monday, 1 June 2026.
He said there is widespread infrastructure collapse, like the traffic bottleneck on Lynnwood Road in front of the University of Pretoria.
This project, like many others across the city, has dragged on for many years without any end in sight. The project lies with the contractors responsible for it.
Spies explained that the city council appoints contractors based on political connections rather than merit.
“They are not the best contractor for the job. It’s the most appropriate cadre or the most connected cadre,” he said.
Another example is the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant, where 75% of the sewage plant is completely non-functional.
“Ten years ago, the city council appointed a corrupt contractor and paid out R60 million with almost nothing to show for it,” Spies said.
“A second contractor was later hired on a R400 million contract. R90 million has already been paid out, yet 75% of the plant still doesn’t work.”
Raw sewage from the broken plant flows directly into the Apies River, which flows into the Crocodile River and eventually into the Limpopo River.
Spies directly links this mismanagement to the tragic cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal that claimed 30 lives.
He expressed frustration that politics has become an elite profession where career politicians stand far away from the ground.
Serious problems in Pretoria North
On Monday, 1 June 2026, the party released a press statement stating that service delivery had deteriorated and that infrastructure in Pretoria North was crumbling.
“Being stranded without electricity has become a daily occurrence. Residents experience electricity outages lasting hours almost every week,” it said.
“This power crisis puts enormous financial pressure on households and businesses that depend on a reliable electricity supply.”
It added that the condition of roads in Pretoria North is equally alarming, as nearly all the streets are riddled with potholes.
“The road from the Rachel de Beer underpass, where one enters the northern part of the city, is in a terrible condition, and residents are forced to use only one lane,” it said.
“This exacerbates traffic congestion, which is already a serious problem given the number of schools located directly along the route.”
Another problem is water. While residents are urged to conserve water, the Metro loses thousands of litres each day due to hundreds of leaks.
“These losses, coupled with power outages and deteriorating roads, indicate that the Metro is no longer able to maintain its basic infrastructure,” the FF Plus said.
“Residents have lost confidence in the Metro, and some are choosing to relocate to areas where service delivery is better.”
The VF Plus addressed a formal letter to the Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Aaron Maluleka, and the Mayor, Nasiphi Moya, about these issues.
“We will keep pressuring the Metro until it takes responsibility and prioritises power supply, water management and road maintenance,” it said.
Photos of infrastructure collapse in Pretoria
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Everytime when the DA takes over Tshwane ,they have to fix the City eg – “Sep 2016 when the DA took over from the ANC- Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga has laid criminal charges against senior officials from the previous ANC administration. According to the Democratic Alliance, the charges relate to two forensic reports, detailing corruption, fraud, and misuse of more than R90 million of public money in two projects of the City’s previous leadership: City Hall and the Mayoral Residence. The charges were laid against three high ranking officials of the previous administration, and three entities of local government, the political party said. The DA’s Msimanga was sworn in as mayor of the metro in mid August after the party formed coalitions with the likes of the EFF, having garnered 43.10% of the total vote for the metro, versus 41.48% achieved by the ANC.
“This is just the first set of corruption charges to be laid. There is a web of corruption that I am uncovering, and there will be more charges against more officials and former leaders to come. I am determined to cut out corruption in Tshwane decisively,” Msimanga said.
TimesLive reported that Msimanga warned the ANC during a council meeting that he had forensic reports – adding that “some (ANC councillors) will change their suits into the orange uniform very soon”.
He reportedly waved them in the direction of ANC councillors‚ and said: “Let me explain to the house why there is this boiling thing that is happening across us. You see‚ I am sitting with reports that are starting to shine some light on some of the dealings that have been taking place.” He said he had five reports which he claimed had been “suppressed for the longest time”.
Leaked documents seen by Noseweek earlier this month also revealed a number of dodgy practices, including tens of thousands of ‘middleman vendors’ who were outrageously overcharging for supplies in Tshwane.
Not even in office for a month and DA Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, is already uncovering the first massive ANC corruption cases. Following the revelation that the city of Tshwane entered into a contract for R 100m without any (!) service or good being provided, Msimanga now vowed to review municipal contracts worth over R 10bn.