‘Jozi, witness this transformation’. Really?

Updated Feb. 21, 2025, 5:35 a.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

The City of Joburg recently shared photos of its “incredible” transformation on X, but most people don’t see the difference. Do you?

Accelerated Service Delivery COJ — Accelerated Service Delivery / @CityofJoburgZA / X

The City of Joburg – the economic hub of South Africa where things move so fast, you’d swear they have more hours in a day. Joburg is the city of gold, where people go to find success.

Recently, the official City of Joburg X account shared photos showing the brilliant transformation the city has gone through, thanks to what they’re calling “Accelerated Service Delivery”. The difference is mind-blowing.

@CityofJoburgZA shared a few before and after pictures from the inner city, showcasing their tireless and inspiring efforts at cleaning up and revamping the city.

However, netizens barely noticed any difference.

Do you?

Jozi, witness the transformation. Check out these before-and-after photos showcasing the impact of our Accelerated Service Delivery efforts in the inner city yesterday. #KleenaJoburg #JoburgServices ^LM pic.twitter.com/nIoBSOtaNY
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) February 20, 2025

ALSO READ: Budget speech: The hot mic strikes again

If you didn’t notice anything besides the rubbish being picked up, you’re not alone. Apparently “accelerated service delivery” is code for “we’re actually going to provide basic services we should have been providing all along”.

X users took to the comments to share their disbelief and shock.

@LiamJacobsZA questioned his reality for a second: “This can’t be a real post💀”

@dramadelinquent hilariously congratulated the city: “😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you picked up 2 lots of rubbish, congrats. Great to see our taxes being used so well.”

“Where are the after pictures?” asked @DavidMogashoa as he clearly couldn’t see the difference.

@DigitalNomadSA asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Is this a parody account?”

Sadly not, bro. It’s the real deal.

However, @garlzee reminded everyone that the expectations were already low to begin with.

I completely forgot that my expectations should not have been that high in the first instance pic.twitter.com/lo0NriYYCI
— South African AF (@garlzee) February 20, 2025

ALSO READ: Tourist books 'Iron Man' villa for R330k a night

Anyways, with “major” transformations taking place in the City of Joburg (thanks to their accelerated service delivery), we can only wonder what's next.

Could they finally turn on all the traffic lights that don’t work? That would be a major move, something straight out of 2055!

Will they turn the water back on for all residents? Imagine living in a city with water. Unheard of – what a dream that would be.

Aside from all the jokes, this is a depressing achievement that probably should've been kept secret.

This “transformation” shows us how low the bar is for service delivery, and the people of Joburg should probably be worried.