An important meeting between the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana and the Mayor of Johannesburg Dada Morero is taking place in Pretoria on Friday.
The City of Johannesburg requested the meeting and is expected to explain its poor management of the city’s finances. At this stage, the metro has less than R4 billion cash on hand left in the bank, it owes creditors more than R25 billion and has committed to a much criticised R10.3 billion wage deal with the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).
Godongwana had written a letter to Morero on 23 April, warning that if the municipality continues on its wayward course, Treasury will withhold the R8 billion due to the City in July.
Sawmu, which is an ANC ally through the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), has accused Godongwana of colluding with the DA in an election year. The ANC currently leads the governing coalition in Joburg.
However, The Citizen understands that Godongwana had sent several letters to the mayor’s office before the latest one, warning the city about several financial issues.
The ANC in Johannesburg told The Citizen on Friday that they will meet with the mayor and the minister of finance following Friday’s meeting. Morero also insists that the city is not in a crisis.
Financial and governance crisis in City of Joburg
Political analyst and research fellow at the University of Free State (UFS) Theo Neethling told The Citizen on Friday that despite being an ANC minister, Godongwana had acted in the best interests of the city by writing the scathing letter to Morero.
“The growing conflict between Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana – who is steadfast and firm in his pursuit of fiscal discipline – and Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero highlights the deepening financial and governance crisis facing the ANC in Johannesburg ahead of the elections.
“At the centre of the dispute is a controversial R10.3 billion wage agreement with Samwu, which National Treasury regards as unaffordable and potentially unlawful.
“Treasury’s warning that Johannesburg is effectively bankrupt is politically damaging, especially given reports that the city owes more than R25 billion while holding less than R4 billion in cash reserves,” said Neethling.
Competing political pressures
Neethling said the ANC now finds itself trapped between competing political pressures.
“On the one hand, it cannot easily abandon organised labour, particularly Samwu, which remains an important constituency within the broader alliance politics surrounding the ANC.
“On the other hand, ignoring Treasury’s warnings risks pushing the city even deeper into financial collapse. The ANC now faces a difficult balancing act between maintaining support from organised labour and responding to Treasury’s demands for fiscal discipline.”
Loyiso Masuku’s silence
Meanwhile, Neethling said the silence of the ANC’s regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku on the matter is also notable. Masuku is the deputy mayor of the city and the finance MMC.
“The position of Loyiso Masuku is also politically noteworthy. Her seemingly muted response to the crisis is not going unnoticed. Having recently been elected deputy executive mayor unopposed, while previously serving as MMC for finance, she occupies a politically delicate position.
“Although she has presented herself as a reform-minded leader committed to restoring fiscal discipline, opposition parties argue that she cannot fully distance herself from the very financial problems that developed under her watch.
“For opposition parties such as the DA, the crisis reinforces the narrative that the ANC is struggling to govern major metros effectively. More broadly, the Johannesburg situation reflects the ANC’s growing challenge of balancing political commitments with harsh fiscal realities,” he said.
