South Africa’s richest city is in such deep financial trouble that it cannot pay its service providers

Johannesburg Water has come under fire for failing to pay contractors who maintain the city’s water infrastructure.

Contractors, including Fubu Africa and Skoba Construction, allege that the city has failed to pay for projects started in March 2026.

This has led to workers at these companies receiving partial payments for the first month of work and no payments thereafter.

The workers were assured that the outstanding amounts owed to them would be included in their wages the next month.

Despite this assurance, no payments were made, and both companies halted their operations in May.

The projects were halted due to a lack of materials, and workers were promised their salaries on multiple subsequent payment dates, none of which were paid.

Both Fubu Africa and Skoba Construction say they have been unable to pay their workers because Johannesburg Water has not paid them for their work.

Since then, workers have been referred to several officials and offices in an effort to resolve the issue, but payment has still not been made.

ActionSA’s Johannesburg mayoral team member, Mpumi Edward, said the situation places Johannesburg’s workers in a precarious position.

He said the unpaid workers would not be able to provide for themselves and their families because the city was undermining labour laws.

He also noted that the halted infrastructure projects could have severe consequences for Johannesburg’s residents if the city’s water systems failed.

If the city’s infrastructure is left unmaintained, residents could face water outages because contractors are unavailable to fix the issues.

The lack of payment also puts pressure on the contractors, who will not have sufficient capital to complete future projects or to fund their own businesses.

Edward said that non-payment creates a vicious cycle, stalling maintenance of public infrastructure and causing unnecessary hardship for both contractors and their workers.

Johannesburg’s water woes continue

Contractors going unpaid is the latest part of Johannesburg’s ongoing struggles with water infrastructure.

The city’s ageing water system has led to burst pipes and frequent localised outages, with multiple reports each day.

The city has also experienced numerous large-scale outages since the start of the year, where scheduled maintenance or small projects often turn into multi-day outages.

During routine maintenance in June, some areas of Johannesburg reportedly went nearly two weeks without water.

WaterCAN has recently called for a public review of the ongoing water crisis in the city, saying that citizens have a right to know what is happening to their service delivery.

The group said the continuous water outages raise questions about the resilience of important systems in the city.

WaterCAN executive director, Ferrial Adam, said, “We know that maintenance can result in temporary disruptions. What residents need to understand is why recovery has taken so long in some areas”.

“Most importantly, what lessons have been learned and what measures will be put in place before the next maintenance shutdown?”

Adam said the city should improve its communication about water outages and infrastructure challenges so residents are aware of what is happening in their areas.

The failure to pay contractors for their work on water infrastructure is also not the first time the city has incurred debt in its water crisis.

Currently, the city of Johannesburg owes Rand Water over R3 billion for bulk water purchases, creating tension between the two groups.

This has led Rand Water to threaten to demand upfront payments from the city to safeguard itself against further debt.

Groups have alleged in the past that Johannesburg’s high debt on bulk water purchases is not due to its inability to collect revenue from its residents.

Rather, it is due to city officials using money intended for Rand Water payments to service other debts or handle other crises in the city.