Joburg impaired debt to soar 41% as wage bill hits 30% of budget, says local watchdog

By Levy Masiteng 

The City of Johannesburg’s impaired debt is expected to surge by 41% over the next three years while nearly 30% of its operating budget will go towards staff and wages, according to the Johannesburg Community Action Network (JoburgCAN).

In a hard-hitting submission on the city’s draft 2026/27 Budget and Integrated Development Plan (IDP), JoburgCAN warned that Johannesburg risks sinking deeper into financial distress if it continues relying on overly optimistic revenue assumptions while staff costs and debt continue to escalate.

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“Our city is clearly in a precarious financial position,” said JoburgCAN managing director Julia Fish.

“The recent rebuke by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana effectively called the 2025/26 Adjustment Budget illegal. We may be in an election year, but that does not mean the city should continue to risk another unfunded budget.”

Godongwana’s April letter to Mayor Dada