Despite the state of municipal services, or lack of them, the chief executives of 13 Johannesburg municipal companies in charge of delivering them earn over a million rand a year, according to data from the City of Johannesburg Medium Term Budget 2025/26 to 2027/28.

The biggest annual package of R4.84-million goes to the chief executive of City Power – that’s without a bonus. The CEO of Pikitup’s R4.36-million package does include a ‘performance bonus’ of R536,000.

Johannesburg Water’s CEO has a package of R3.6-million. The Johannesburg Roads Agency’s CEO gets R3.5-million, despite both entities being blamed for the giant hole on Republic Road in Randburg, which marked its one-year birthday in July.

Both executives’ remuneration packages include ‘performance bonuses’: R218,000 for Johannesburg Water’s CEO and R191,000 for the JRA’s.

As the bucks get passed around, the hole just gets deeper.