Illustrative image: Johannesburg Skyline (Photo: iStock)
By Anna Cox – 22 February 2026
Residents’ committees have replaced ward committees in Johannesburg, deepening inequality.
Joburg’s civic safety net has quietly frayed.
At ward level, the city is meant to rely on its 135 ward committees, which are statutory bodies chaired by ward councillors and made up of community representatives, to deal with service delivery issues. They are supposed to act as the frontline between residents and the municipality…
In Jozi, according to the article above, few people can say who sits on their ward committee, where it meets, or how residents are meant to access it. Is the situation any different in Cape Town??