• Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the service delivery push that started before the G20 summit will continue across Johannesburg.

• Residents like Tshepiso Moshe fear Johannesburg will return to filthy, neglected streets after police arrests and repairs done for the G20.

For many Johannesburg residents, the sudden clean streets before the G20 summit felt like a rare glimpse of what the city could be. Now they worry it will not last.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the clean-up will carry on. He told a media briefing at the Gauteng Legislature that the government will not return to neglect now that the summit is over.

"We are told we are putting lipstick on a pig purely because of the G20," he said. "We want to commit that we are going to go beyond G20."

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The summit took place at the Nasrec Expo Centre over the weekend. In the days before it, municipalities rushed to fix potholes, repair streetlights and clean the city, especially in the Johannesburg central business district.

Some streets, like De Villars Street, also known as Dunusa, were even closed so workers could clear rubbish.

Police also flooded hotspots. From 17 to 20 November, officers arrested 1,799 people for crimes including rape, assault, kidnapping and damaging public property.

But for residents, the sudden care raises more questions than comfort.

Tshepiso Moshe, a 21-year-old call centre agent, says the city normally smells like urine and sewer water. "This is our daily life," she said. "Suddenly visitors are coming for the summit and the best tea set is used for our guests."

She says the government has shown it has the money and resources, but ordinary people rarely see the benefit. "They must take care of citizens first, not the outsiders," she said.

Lesufi admitted that keeping police visible will need more funding.