Joburg’s R24.4bn Blunder: Mayor Morero on the Hook for City’s Crumbling Finances

Johannesburg, once the economic crown jewel of South Africa, is now in the hot seat for squandering an eye-watering R24.4 billion in public funds. The city’s mayor, Dada Morero, has just two weeks to answer to the national Treasury about what went wrong and more importantly, how he plans to fix it.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, in a sharply worded letter dated July 30, warned that if Johannesburg fails to present a credible financial recovery plan, it could lose a critical portion of its national government funding. And that’s not a threat the city can afford to ignore.

Cracks in the City of Gold

Joburg is no stranger to dysfunction. Despite being home to Africa’s largest stock exchange and corporate headquarters, many residents endure daily water outages, rolling blackouts, cratered roads, and rising crime. A 2023 council report revealed that the city is over R220 billion behind on infrastructure maintenance, a legacy of years of neglect and mismanagement.

Now, with R24.4 billion officially labelled as unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, the gravity of Joburg’s financial collapse is clearer than ever. More than R3 billion of those losses were incurred in the past financial year alone.

“This is the gravest financial threat Johannesburg has faced in its democratic history,” warned the Democratic Alliance (DA) in a statement. “If Treasury suspends its support, the city will barely be able to deliver even the minimal services it currently offers.”

A Revolving Door of Leadership

The rot didn’t start with Morero. Since 2016, Johannesburg has had nine different mayors, a mix of ANC and DA politicians, none of whom stayed long enough to implement meaningful change. Morero, who now heads an ANC-led coalition government, inherited a mess, but that hasn’t excused the latest losses.

In June, he announced a high-powered “bomb squad” of former city officials to steer service delivery back on track. But critics argue that these efforts are cosmetic at best, not least because no serious investigations were conducted into how the billions disappeared in the first place.

“Losses were simply certified as irrecoverable without even trying to recover them,” said Godongwana in the letter. “That’s unacceptable.”

What Comes Next?

The pressure is now squarely on Morero’s shoulders. The finance minister has demanded an actionable plan, not just to recover some of the funds, but also to punish the officials and councillors responsible. That includes implementing “consequence management” and repairing years of structural decay.

Meanwhile, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has already started cleaning house at the provincial level, replacing department heads to shake up poor performance. Whether Joburg follows suit remains to be seen.

Social media users haven’t held back. “We can’t have load-shedding, dry taps, AND stolen billions,” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Someone has to pay for this.”

Why This Matters Beyond Joburg

What happens in Johannesburg matters far beyond its city limits. As a commercial powerhouse, the city’s decline threatens regional economic stability. It’s also scheduled to host G20 delegates in November a high-profile moment that will test its ability to function under the global spotlight.

On the streets of Yeoville and the high-rises of Sandton, there’s a growing sense that citizens are being failed. Again.

This isn’t just about billions gone missing, it’s about broken trust.

If Joburg is to reclaim its reputation, it must do more than balance the books. It must finally deliver on the promises made to its five million residents.

And that starts with accountability. 

{Source: The Citizen}

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