The city of Johannesburg – South Africa’s largest – is increasingly unable to perform even its most basic functions, such as providing clean water and electricity and maintaining its roads and the safety of its citizens. It has the symptoms of a broken city: deteriorating financial controls, a swelling wage bill, unstable coalitions and rapid mayoral turnover.
Describing these problems, however, does not amount to a diagnosis. And no project of renewal can begin without a diagnosis.
