The ACDP says the city should focus on collecting the R71bn owed by residents and businesses.
Two opposition parties in the City of Johannesburg have expressed concern about the metro’s reliance on taking out loans to fund service delivery projects.
According to the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the city has borrowed R5 billion from financial institutions in the past 12 months to fund infrastructure-related projects.
But the party’s Chris Rohlssen told The Citizen on Tuesday that these loans are unnecessary and unsustainable. He said the city should instead strengthen its revenue collection efforts.
“South Africa’s biggest city needs to collect the money owed to it and stop taking loans,” he said.
Poor financial decisions
DA caucus leader in Johannesburg, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, also told The Citizen that the party is concerned about the loans the city is taking.
Her party has taken the City of Johannesburg to court after council approved a R10 billion wage deal with the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu). The DA believes the city will have to redirect funds from service delivery to honour this wage deal.
“The DA rejects the city’s growing reliance on loans while simultaneously locking residents into massive long-term obligations like the proposed R10 billion Politically Facilitated Agreement (PFA).
“This contradiction is unsustainable. A city that claims it needs continuous borrowing to survive cannot justify entering into multi-billion-rand commitments that will burden residents for years to come.
“It reflects a failure of financial discipline and prioritisation,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku said.
Lack of accountability?
She said the city’s financial situation is worsening, with the DA now informed that former employees are taking both the city and the South African Municipal Workers’ Union to court, demanding to benefit from the PFA as well.
“At the same time, the city has failed to account transparently for borrowed funds. The DA has written to the National Treasury (South Africa) to investigate the usage and possible misuse of the R2.5 billion loan from the Agence Française de Développement.
“Borrowing must fund clear, accountable service delivery improvements-not mask governance failures or inefficiencies in entities like City Power Johannesburg,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
“The DA’s position is clear: fix governance, restore transparency, resolve labour disputes and stabilise finances before taking on more debt or long-term commitments. Until then, we will oppose reckless decisions that deepen the city’s financial crisis and burden residents,” she added.
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