By Mzoxolo Mpolase
Few places capture the collapse of Johannesburg more visibly than Fourways.
Once one of the most sought-after suburbs in the northern corridor, Fourways is now a site of growing dysfunction: lawlessness, neglect, and a near-total breakdown in municipal governance.
And now, in what may be the clearest sign yet of how inverted the system has become — residents trying to clean it up are being fined for doing so.
The decay is layered: uncontrolled developments with no supporting infrastructure; minibus taxis creating illegal taxi ranks on pavements and sometimes driving on the wrong side of the road; informal traders occupying almost every curb; homeless individuals vandalising traffic lights and then directing motorists for cash (or tips as they call them); illegal land invasions giving rise to shack settlements almost overnight.
These bring not just instability, but open fires, surging crime, noise disturbances, and the occasional sound of gunfire.
Add to that illegal advertising trailers stationed indefinitely on arterial roads, pothole-ridden streets, frequent water leaks, and recurring power outages — and what you have is a suburb under siege from collapse.
In the absence of action by the municipality, residents have stepped in. Volunteer-run initiatives like Better Fourways have taken it upon themselves to do what the City no longer can or won’t: clean, repair, and restore.
But on Sunday, 23 March 2025, while Better Fourways volunteers were removing trash, restoring order, and making a real difference in their community — they were met not with support, but with a R5,864 fine.
Issued by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), the penalty wasn’t for obstruction or trespassing, but for “illegal advertising.”
That’s right: the same municipality that doesn’t enforce by-laws, and is defined by collapsing infrastructure, is now swift to enforce the very same neglected by-laws on residents trying to fix what’s broken.
According to Better Fourways, officers confiscated the group’s banners, flags, safety cones, or hogs — materials that had been used to promote civic work and to warn motorists while the section of Witkoppen Road was being cleaned.
In a public statement, the group said:
“Better Fourways is not a business — it is an NGO wherein all proceeds go into paying for projects – the people hired, the required tools, paints, equipment etc. HOW can this be construed as ‘advertising’?”
“One of the important purposes of banners and flags being put up (and they are temporary whilst work is being done) is to create awareness of who is doing work to clean our community (so they will be encouraged to contribute) and to act as a warning to motorists to be cautious around the areas being cleaned.”
Speaking to this platform telephonically, Better Fourways representative Raffaella Carnicelli confirmed that the initiative is well known to the ward councillor for Fourways, David Foley.
The move to fine them, she said, was “a slap in the face” — and a reflection of just how backwards the system has become.
But they also made one thing clear: the work to improve their community — beset by by-law violations, infrastructural decay, and institutional neglect — will not stop.
Do nothing, and your suburb collapses.
Do something, and you’ll be fined.
That’s the logic of Johannesburg in 2025.
And it tells you everything you need to know.
It appears to be an attempt to frustrate the groups efforts. It therefore appears as if the City of Johannesburg wants the city and its infrastructure as such, to collapse.