Morero denies that Johannesburg is broke at his state of the city address
· Citizen
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has denied that the City of Johannesburg is broke and on the brink of collapse.
He was speaking at St. Mary’s Anglican church on Wednesday, where he delivered this year’s state of the city address (Soca). Morero said the ANC-led coalition inherited a broke city from the DA in 2019 and once more in 2023 when the DA was removed from power.
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Despite the poor state of the city, the mayor said his administration has things under control.
“For us, this meant rebuilding the financial system and putting in place controls,” he said.
Morero’s milestones
It comes after Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana raised concerns about poor financial controls in the City of Johannesburg. Morero, however, said the city has, in fact, achieved some milestones.
“Through your support, we have managed the following: the adoption of a fully funded R89.4 billion budget with R84.8 billion operating revenue for 2025-2026.
“We have witnessed revenue growth of 9.3 % supported by tariff increases, operational surpluses of R4.1 billion forecast,” he said.
Morero said the city had also put in place a debt relief programme which offers a 50% debt write-off and a 100% interest waiver to eligible debtors.
He said the city had also achieved its debt-to-revenue target, which sits at 30%, and a net operating surplus of 3%.
The city had also maintained employee costs below the recommended threshold, he claimed.
“As part of our immediate steps to stabilise our finances, the city will dispose of its non-strategic assets. This will include the sale of the vacant land portion of our debtor’s book. This vacant land debtors’ book is currently valued at R23.2 billion and we will therefore dispose of this debtor’s book and sell the debtors book,” he said.
R5 billion Eskom debt
While Morero claimed that the city is in a good financial position, he told Johannesburg residents not to worry about Eskom’s threats to disconnect the metro from the grid due to non-payment. The City of Johannesburg owes Eskom more than R5 billion.
“This challenge is not only affecting the City of Johannesburg, but several municipalities across the country.
“We will not fight Eskom we will work with the minister of electricity and energy [and] the South African Local Government Association (Salga) to resolve this particular challenge.
“We are on track in ensuring that the city resolves the dispute with Eskom,” he said.
The mayor also claimed the municipal electricity company, City Power, has a turnaround strategy that will address the debt.
Municipal entities
Morero said his administration will follow recommendations made by National Treasury and the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to strengthen financial controls and ensure that municipal companies function at an optimal level.
“This reform agenda will assist the city to improve governance, financial sustainability, operational efficiency and accountability within entities that have been historically operated under significant fiscal and infrastructure fragility,” he said.
Loan from Germany
Despite Morero claiming that the city is financially stable, he confirmed that it is in the process of securing a loan from a German bank to fund the its energy projects.
“The city as a borrower and City Power as an execution agent are currently finalising a contract with KFW with the expectation that KFW will be dispensing the agreed loan amount before the end of June 2026,” he said.
Morero also called on the National Treasury, the SIU, and the Public Protector of South Africa (PP) to investigate instances of fraud and corruption involving ratepayers’ money.
National Treasury’s concerns
Two weeks ago, the DA’s mayoral candidate Helen Zille exposed a letter that Godongwana had sent to Morero lamenting the City’s financial problems. In the letter, dated 23 April 2026, Godongwana bluntly states that the city is “effectively” bankrupt.
But Morero has since denied this claim, saying that Godongwana had used incorrect financial reports to reach his conclusion.
Godongwana’s letter also claimed that Johannesburg owes creditors more than R25 billion while only having cash and cash equivalents in hand of R3.9 billion. He also warned Morero against the implementation of a Samwu wage deal of R10.3 billion while the city is financially struggling.
Godongwana has since met with Morero but has never come out in public to say he had been misinformed about Joburg’s finances.