Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero says the city is not in financial crisis.
This is despite the national treasury stepping in to monitor its finances. Morero was joined by Deputy Executive Mayor and Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance Loyiso Masuku, senior City of Johannesburg officials, municipal entity executives, and MMCs during the media briefing held at the Sophiatown Boardroom at the Johannesburg Theatre on July 8. He said the national treasury had confirmed that Johannesburg’s 2026/27 budget is fully funded, although the city still needs to improve its cash flow and collect more revenue.

While the treasury has raised concerns about the city’s finances, Morero said Johannesburg is already taking steps to improve its financial position.

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Payments to creditors on track, says Morero

Morero said that Johannesburg aims to settle settle outstanding payments to Eskom and Rand Water by mid-July, after receiving its equitable share allocation. About R1.4b will be paid to Eskom, while R960m has been earmarked for Rand Water.

He also highlighted recent improvements in the city’s financial position, including Moody’s improved outlook on Johannesburg, the lifting of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange bond suspension, and a €200m (about R3.8b) Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, a major German state-owned investment and development bank based in Frankfurt, loan to upgrade City Power’s electricity infrastructure.

Morero added that the city is working to reduce unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. He said almost R1.8b has already been regularised through council and municipal entities, while another R4.6b is still being considered. The biggest problem, he said, was City Power spending R2.1b more than expected on buying electricity in the third quarter.

Governance problems have also affected the services residents receive every day.

Cash flow affecting service delivery

Morero was questioned about service delivery, including uncollected rubbish, electricity outages, and growing frustration amongst residents. Morero admitted that cash flow problems delayed payments to contractors, which affected Pikitup’s refuse collection operations.

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He said funding has now been released, contractors have returned to work, and the city expects normal collection schedules to resume once the backlog has been cleared. He also said electricity outages have often been caused by damaged cables, ageing substations, and delays in getting replacement parts. To avoid similar problems in future, the city plans to improve the money it collects from residents and businesses from their revenue drives.

Revenue collection to increase

He confirmed that the city will intensify their efforts in collecting outstanding municipal debts, starting with large electricity users who owe the city. He said the municipality will continue using internal collections teams, legal debt collectors, and customer outreach programmes to improve revenue while helping residents resolve billing disputes. Morero believes these measures will strengthen the city’s finances over time.

Morero sought to reassure residents that they would not be charged for services they did not receive. He said residents who experience prolonged electricity outages, water interruptions, or other service failures should report the matter to the city, so that their accounts can be corrected where necessary. He acknowledged that Johannesburg’s finances were still under pressure, but insisted the city remained financially stable, and continued to meet its monthly financial obligations, including servicing and redeeming its bonds. “We assure residents that we are a resilient city and will ensure that the city’s finances will not collapse.”

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