There is no avoiding the fact that the bad news about ANC leaders in Gauteng is getting worse by the day. Inadequate service delivery, rising levels of corruption, and what appears to be ingrained factionalism driven by leaders in ANC regions account for a significant portion of this. On Friday, it was made public that Rand Water is now requesting a deposit of R2.4 billion from Johannesburg Water, following weeks of anger, frustration, and protests over the water crisis in Joburg.

The reason is clear: despite residents paying for the water they use, Johannesburg Water has not been paying what it owes. Instead, it looks like revenue is still going into the "sweeping account" without being returned. What actually happens to the money is unclear. However, people who don't have access to water might have some ideas about where it is actually going. Tshifularo Mashava, the CEO of City Power, was reportedly fired on Thursday. Following a raid on the City Power headquarters, the Hawks had previously stated that she should be charged for her alleged involvement in corruption.

Meanwhile, the "two centers of power" issue in Johannesburg, where Dada Morero is mayor and Loyiso Masuku is leader of the regional ANC, appears to be unresolved. Ekurhuleni catastrophe Last week, Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza removed a number of EFF council members from his mayoral committee in Ekurhuleni. The EFF has since promised to stop supporting the ANC in Ekurhuleni and in the Gauteng legislature. Premier Panyaza Lesufi, leader of the ANC in Gauteng, should simply instruct Xhakaza to reinstate those EFF members. This would make sense. However, there is a long history of tension between the two parties in that metro. Even two years ago, it appeared as though the coalition would fail. Meanwhile, the ANC region in that country has long desired to weaken or remove the EFF from the coalition.

Xhakaza seems to have included ActionSA's mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo, in the reorganization of his city cabinet. Khumalo has been criminally charged with assault. According to ActionSA, the company has informed him that it will not accept an offer for this position. This can only be explained by the fact that Xhakaza is attempting to persuade Khumalo to leave ActionSA. However, for the time being, it does not appear likely. The metro in Tshwane has an ANC-led majority and an ActionSA mayor. This appears to be stable at the moment, but allegations of corruption against the ANC's Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise appear to be well-founded. Extraction and horse trading The Gauteng ANC had only a tenuous hold on power prior to this. It formed a minority administration because it refused to collaborate with the DA in the legislature.

As a result, it is susceptible to virtually any kind of no-confidence vote or to not receiving enough votes to pass a budget. This has occurred for a variety of reasons, but it appears that factionalism and internal conflict play a significant role. It was clear that ANC leaders had been successful in establishing themselves in provincial power centers fifteen years ago. They were able to establish extraction networks and take control of those provinces. As a result, the ANC has lost a significant amount of support across the country. It is now abundantly clear that the same thing has transpired at the regional level in Gauteng. The dispute between Masuku and Morero will continue indefinitely because the Gauteng ANC does not appear to have any power over its regions. Tshwane is probably the same way.

Even though a council report found that Modise personally benefited from how council money was spent, he hasn't been fired. He also doesn't seem likely to be. Therefore, there is only one way for Lesufi to maintain power in Gauteng. It might appear that he could make a formal arrangement with uMkhonto Wesizwe, or the MK party, and include them in governance, but this is unlikely to work. There would undoubtedly be a line drawn by the national ANC, and the MK party might refuse to collaborate with the ANC for its own strategic reasons. This indicates that the only feasible strategy for obtaining the support he requires is probably to bribe either the MK party or the EFF, giving them enough of the budget to convince them to vote for it. Voters despise horse-trading exactly like this does.

As the cynics now believe is the case with the use of Joburg's "sweeping account," which now threatens the city's water supply from Rand Water, it indicates that the government has no clear priorities and is making decisions for the purposes of extraction. It demonstrates how cities—and possibly the province as well—are being run solely for the benefit of those in power rather than the people who live there. A scenario in which the party is able to halt its decline in Gauteng appears to be impossible at this time. Major changes could not be made by a "new broom" or "new leader." There is no group that can be brought in to change everything. The issue is a structural one. It concerns the individuals who were elected by ANC members to serve as regional leaders.