{"id":104194,"date":"2026-03-03T17:01:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=104194"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:01:48","slug":"gauteng-water-crisis-dominates-lesufis-2026-sopa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/gauteng-water-crisis-dominates-lesufis-2026-sopa\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauteng water crisis dominates Lesufi\u2019s 2026 SOPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n03 March 2026<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf7 A resident holds a \u201cWe Want Water\u201d placard amid ongoing outages, as pressure mounts on Premier Panyaza Lesufi following his 2026 SOPA. (Photo: Fani Mahuntsi \/ Gallo Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi delivered his 2026 State of the Province Address (SOPA) against the backdrop of an intensifying water crisis that left several communities without water for weeks, sparking service delivery protests across Johannesburg and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

A significant portion of Lesufi\u2019s address focused on the province\u2019s ongoing water challenges, as residents grappled with dry taps and mounting frustration. Political analyst Professor Boitemulo Senokoane said the Premier \u201csucceeded in explaining the history or the background behind why eventually we found ourselves without water in certain quarters of the province.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Senokoane cautioned that while the explanation may have provided context, the critical question remained whether government would implement lasting solutions. \u201cThe biggest problem and the question that remains is whether the ANC government or GNU government at national level are committed to resolving the water crisis forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further pointed to long-standing infrastructure maintenance failures, adding that the core issue lay in whether authorities would prioritise sustaining and upgrading neglected sites. \u201cFor me that\u2019s where the bigger problem is,\u201d Senokoane noted.<\/p>\n

Beyond water, Lesufi announced plans to bolster Gauteng\u2019s economy, including the establishment of a new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Vaal area. The proposal followed years of discussions around economic hubs in Johannesburg South and Alberton, particularly in mining and energy beneficiation.<\/p>\n

Yet, Senokoane described such addresses as often \u201ctheoretical,\u201d arguing that promises made in SOPAs are difficult to measure. \u201cMost of the time they are just theoretical, and it\u2019s even hard to evaluate them, because it\u2019s something that is promised in the future,\u201d he said. He criticised the lack of accountability mechanisms, noting that the government seldom reports comprehensively on whether prior commitments had been fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Senokoane acknowledged that Lesufi had made \u201cindefinite commitments\u201d relating to employment creation and partnerships with private companies. \u201cFrom where I\u2019m sitting, at least there is that promise, and we can only hope that the promise shall happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With local government elections looming, Lesufi\u2019s address carried political weight. Senokoane observed that the Premier had to balance his role as provincial leader with that of an ANC figure operating within the Government of National Unity (GNU). \u201cHe was positioning himself as the leader of the ANC\u2026 but in this instance, leader of the GNU,\u201d Senokoane explained, adding that Lesufi sought to accommodate coalition partners while reinforcing the ANC\u2019s leadership credentials in Gauteng.<\/p>\n

As communities await tangible improvements, the test for Lesufi\u2019s administration will lie not in rhetoric, but in delivery.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Professor Boitemulo Senokoane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 03 March 2026 Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi delivered his 2026 State of the Province Address (SOPA) against the backdrop of an intensifying water crisis that left several communities without water for weeks, sparking service delivery protests across Johannesburg and surrounding areas. A significant portion of Lesufi\u2019s address focused on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":104195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Water-Crisis.jpg?fit=1987%2C1148&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-r6y","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 11:58:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}