By Akani Nkuna
The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA), WaterCAN and JoburgCAN have told the City of Johannesburg to publish its Financial Turnaround Plan for public vetting and to provide further clarity on how it intends to meet its targets and improve service delivery in the 2026/27 financial year.
“This budget should not be judged by the promises it contains, but by the results it delivers. Johannesburg’s residents are being asked to pay more for services while enduring infrastructure failures, water insecurity, electricity losses and declining confidence in the City’s governance,” said the alliance in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“The real test will be whether the City can translate this budget into measurable improvements in people’s daily lives.”
JCA, WaterCAN and JoburgCAN released a statement outlining several key concerns with the city’s final budget, while acknowledging that public participation had helped secure some changes. However, the alliance also raised concern over rising tariffs and charges for water and electricity.
Executive Deputy Mayor and Finance MMC Loyiso Masuku tabled the city’s R97.1 billion budget last week for the 2026/27 financial year. The budget includes R88.3 billion in operating expenditure and R8.8 billion in capital expenditure, with operating revenue projected at R90.4 billion.
The budget was approved by council on 28 May.
Masuku said key revenue drivers included electricity at R27.8 billion, water and wastewater at R21.5 billion, property rates at R18.8 billion and refuse removal at R3.6 billion.
Among the major allocations, City Power was allocated R28.3 billion in operational expenditure, while Johannesburg Water was allocated R21.6 billion. Waste management was allocated R5.2 billion, roads and stormwater operations received R1.8 billion, and public safety, including JMPD visibility and by-law enforcement, was allocated R7.2 billion.
The alliance objected to the increase in the water demand management levy to R107.74 per month for households and R413.84 for businesses, saying that while the levy and improved revenue collection may be necessary, the increase for households was “too significant to pass without scrutiny”.
The groups said the city needed to explain clearly how additional revenue from the levy would be ring-fenced and used to improve water security, reduce losses, and repair failing infrastructure.
The final budget showed a sharp increase in repairs and maintenance, which the alliance welcomed as an important improvement secured through public participation.
It said the increases in repairs and maintenance for water supply, sanitation and other infrastructure categories were positive, but warned that the city still needed to show how the funds would translate into visible improvements on the ground.
It said the final budget still reflected a major increase in senior management posts, despite ongoing service delivery failures and shortages of technical staff in key areas.
“[T]he tripling of senior management posts remains, rising from 330 positions currently to 1 025. Despite these large staff numbers, the City still reports no roads or sanitation professionals, and no roads, sanitation or refuse technicians,” they said.
The alliance said the city needed to do more to ensure ordinary residents understood the implications of the approved budget and could hold the municipality accountable for how the money was spent.
It called for stronger public participation, clearer reporting and more accessible explanations of the budget, saying residents needed practical information on how tariff increases, repairs and maintenance spending, and the city’s financial turnaround plans would affect them.
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