The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero, will on Thursday, 20 November 2025, lead a special preview launch of the Homecoming Exhibition, a landmark cultural showcase forming part of the official G20 Summit Cultural Programme. 

The Homecoming Exhibition celebrates the return of 145 artworks from the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) following an extensive international tour. It also marks a significant partnership between the Standard Bank Gallery and JAG, ensuring that Johannesburg residents continue to experience the city’s world-renowned collection during the gallery’s refurbishment. 

 The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) is not just a home for artistic masterpieces; it plays an essential role in preserving the history and heritage of Johannesburg. In recent months, we have made significant strides in both restoring and reimagining this vital cultural asset. The Johannesburg Development Agency has spearheaded these efforts by bringing on board a skilled heritage specialist. They have conducted in-depth structural assessments, paving the way for a well-planned and responsible restoration process. 

We are excited to report that the Provincial Heritage Resources Authority of Gauteng has formally approved the City’s application for the necessary structural interventions in the restoration project. We have also secured all required approvals, covering key areas such as traffic impact, stormwater management, fire safety, water usage, and land surveying, which means we can move forward without any hitches. To protect JAG’s invaluable collection during renovations, we have set up three temporary facilities at the Johannesburg City Library, Museum Africa, and the Brixton Multipurpose Centre. 

Incorrect messages have been propagated over the past few days regarding the reasons for the removal by the City of Johannesburg of a banner illegally erected by Solidarity or its agents along the M1 motorway in Johannesburg. The City reaffirms its constitutional obligation to uphold the rule of law and to ensure that all matters under its administration are managed in accordance with its by-laws, policies and other applicable legislation and regulations. Adherence to these prescripts is essential to the effective and orderly functioning of the City.

In terms of the Outdoor Advertising By-Laws, 2009, any party seeking to erect, install, or display an outdoor advertising sign on City-owned property must make an application and obtain formal approval from the City. No such application was submitted in relation to the banner in question. Instead, the banner was erected unlawfully, in direct contravention of the City’s by-laws. This is the sole reason for the banner’s removal by City officials, who acted strictly within their power and authority to enforce the law. The G20 had no bearing on the City’s decision, and any insinuation of bias or ulterior motive on the City’s actions is categorically rejected. The City simply cannot standby without acting to stop the flagrant disregard of its by-laws.

City Power is starting to feel the impact of sustained heavy rainfall on its operations across Johannesburg, with the number of logged queries this morning, exceeding 2000. The wet weather conditions have increased the number of outages and are hampering our restoration efforts as teams battle to access certain areas that are water-logged. The heavy rainfall over the past few days have affected our ability to respond timeously to faults, resulting in prolonged outages.

There are several roads that the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) have closed off for safety concerns after some of the low-lying bridges got flooded, especially in the Roodepoort and Lenasia area. We also have trees that have fallen and blocked off some roads in Hursthill, Parkview, and Randburg areas. In some parts, those fallen trees have snapped our overhead lines, causing additional outages.

The City of Johannesburg has urged property owners to pay their municipal bills ahead of the festive season to avoid spending their holidays without essential services such as water and electricity.

The City’s Group Finance Department Director of Customer Communications, Kgamanyane Maphologela, cautions that many customers often fail to prioritise their municipal accounts during the busy festive period — a mistake that may lead to service disconnections.

City Power is pleased to inform customers that 100% of the power supply has been restored following last week’s incident at the Bree Substation.

All affected areas have now been successfully reconnected, and our teams have completed all restoration processes.

The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Dada Morero, is proud to announce significant progress in the ongoing restoration of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), a cornerstone of the City’s cultural heritage and one of its most treasured public institutions. The planning and redesign phase of JAG, led by the Johannesburg Development Agency, has now reached an advanced stage.

As the project moves into the construction preparation phase, restoration work cannot proceed while the art collection remains inside the building. To ensure the safety, preservation, and continued accessibility of the City’s invaluable artworks during this period, three temporary relocation venues have been secured: the Johannesburg City Library, Museum Africa and the Brixton Multipurpose Facility.

Members of the media are invited to a briefing by the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero, together with the MMC for Economic Development, Cllr Nomoya Mnisi, and senior officials from the Department of Economic Development. The City will provide an update on the progress of the court-ordered physical verification of informal traders, which concludes on 18 November 2025.

The briefing will cover the outcomes of the verification process, the next steps for issuing trading permits to qualifying traders, and the measures the City is implementing to ensure full compliance with the court ruling, municipal by-laws and the Informal Trading Policy. The City will also outline its ongoing efforts to create an orderly, safe and inclusive trading environment that supports both economic activity and the rights of residents and formal businesses.

The City of Johannesburg rejects, in the strongest possible terms, the article authored by Ms Sisanda Mbolekwa and published by the Sunday Times on 16 November 2025, under the headline “Workers’ R4bn G20 blackmail.” The article is riddled with factual inaccuracies, contradictions, and unfounded claims that mislead the public and misrepresent the City’s actions.

The central allegation that the City or the Executive Mayor has “diverted R4 billion” from capital expenditure to avert disruptions to the G20 Summit is entirely false. No such diversion has taken place. The City has not yet budgeted for the agreement reached in principle with SAMWU on Friday, 14 November 2025, and no amount has been drawn from any capital budget for this purpose. The journalist cannot point to a single budget document or Council decision to support this falsehood because none exists.