Why Zille doesn’t want City of Joburg under administration

Johannesburg City Council meeting at the Connie Bapela House. Picture: Supplied Zille was reacting to a letter that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana sent to the mayor of Johannesburg, Dada Morero, last month, in which he outlined several concerns regarding the municipality’s finances. The concerns include poor revenue collection against budgeted targets, growing cash flow challenges and over-expenditure pressures, failure to pay creditors within the legally prescribed 30-day period, continued non-compliance with mSCOA regulations, weaknesses in financial reporting systems, and concerns regarding unfunded financial commitments which may further worsen the financial position of the City.

“The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, and Treasury will run Joburg. That will be a severe wrench for the City of Johannesburg, but it will also mean all the councillors will become unemployed and will not receive salaries from now until November, which will hit them very hard. Very hard.

Even if they have been warning about these things and blowing the whistle very hard.” “Furthermore, they will be able to identify gaps in the city’s financial plans and redirect funds needed for service delivery. If this is not done immediately, the residents in the City of Johannesburg will continue to experience a decline in service delivery in the province.” The MEC for Finance in Gauteng, Nkululeko Dunga, has also expressed concern about the tensions between the National Treasury and the City of Johannesburg. “The MEC has been briefed by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury on the state of municipal finances in Gauteng, including the City of Johannesburg, and is aware of the serious concerns raised by the Minister of Finance.