Ekurhuleni gets things done

You had better be sitting down. For most Gautengers, service delivery is an impossible dream.

- Hein Kaiser

Getting what ratepayers pay for is too often a bridge too far for local government.

There are memes, complaints, hands-in-the-air emojis and gatvol ward councillors who have become de facto call centres. It is a mess. It is also a tale of two cities pressed up against each other. Both have problems. Both have challenges. Yet the metros are very different. Who would have thought we would compare barely functional cities not by achievement, but by lesser evil.

Johannesburg is dead. Some residents call it a world-class African "shitty". It is easy to see why. Drive through Yeoville. Head down Louis Botha Avenue. Check Sandton, Northcliff, the deep South and everywhere in between. It is overgrown. Traffic lights are staffed by homeless people. Potholes have birthdays. Half completed works sit waiting for better days.

This is why next year's municipal elections matter. More than ever.