ORANGE FARM, GAUTENG — Orange Farm residents are demanding urgent improvements to basic services as ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa campaigns in the area, bringing national attention to the severe water shortages, deteriorating roads, and lack of youth opportunities plaguing the southern Johannesburg community of more than half a million people.
For many in Orange Farm and the neighboring area of Drieziek, daily life is defined by failing infrastructure. Residents report that local roads are rapidly deteriorating, raw sewage is spilling into residential areas, and taps remain dry for months at a time, making municipal water tankers the community’s only lifeline. Compounding these service delivery failures is a stark lack of economic opportunities for young people in a largely unemployed population.
These are the ground realities that President Cyril Ramaphosa encountered during his weekend campaign stop. While addressing the community, the ANC leader assured residents that resolving the water crisis remains a national priority. However, the issue of water scarcity and infrastructure decay followed the President to his next campaign stop in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
The ongoing service delivery challenges have intensified political friction, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) actively highlighting the ANC’s water management troubles during the campaign trail. This prompted a sharp response from ANC representative Panyaza Lesufi, who pushed back against the opposition’s narrative.
Lesufi emphasized the DA’s historical responsibility for infrastructure deficits, pointing out that the opposition was in power in Ekurhuleni during previous local water crises. He further noted that the DA was governing Tshwane when residents of Hammanskraal tragically died of cholera due to water failures, stating that the ANC did not resort to political billboards during that crisis. Lesufi added that the DA similarly failed to ensure these critical service delivery matters were addressed while governing Johannesburg.
As the election cycle intensifies, the stark contrast between campaign promises and the lived realities of Orange Farm residents underscores a pressing, unified demand for tangible, immediate improvements in basic service delivery.
