By Thapelo Molefe
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has called on the national government to urgently intervene in Johannesburg, accusing the City’s Mayor Dada Morero of reckless financial decisions that it says are driving South Africa’s economic hub towards collapse.
In a statement on Friday, the DA said it had written to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Minister of Finance, and the Auditor-General to demand accountability after revelations that R4 billion was diverted from Johannesburg Water to cover “general financial obligations,” including salaries and operating costs.
“At a time when Johannesburg faces a full-blown water crisis, the Executive Mayor has confirmed to Parliament that R4 billion was diverted away from Johannesburg Water,” the DA said.
“This reckless raid on critical infrastructure funds has already placed thousands of jobs at risk and left residents without reliable water.”
The opposition party alleged that the diversion was part of a growing pattern of questionable decisions and failures, which it said included violating a High Court order, allowing alleged links to the construction mafia to go unchecked, and failing to appoint a full-time City Manager in line with the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Other allegations levelled against the mayor include the unlawful establishment of a so-called “Bomb Squad” without legal authority, and irregular executive appointments including two CEOs appointed simultaneously at Johannesburg Property Company during July.
According to the DA, these failures have worsened the City’s service delivery crisis while compromised Members of the Mayoral Committee remain in office.
“The Executive Mayor has ignored every warning and allowed service delivery to collapse further, all while protecting compromised colleagues instead of acting in the best interest of residents,” the party said.
The DA has demanded that the national government and the Auditor-General direct Morero to provide a full breakdown of the R4 billion reallocation with supporting documentation, act against implicated Members of the Mayoral Committee, and launch an independent investigation into the financial and governance impact of the mayor’s decisions.
“The City of Johannesburg is sliding towards financial ruin and service delivery collapse; in the event that he fails to do this, he should step down,” the DA said.
“If national government does not intervene, it will be complicit in the destruction of South Africa’s economic hub.”
Johannesburg has faced mounting governance and infrastructure challenges in recent years, including recurring water shortages, power cuts linked to Eskom load-shedding, and allegations of corruption in multimillion-rand City contracts.
The DA added that it will continue to fight for accountability, jobs, and reliable services, insisting that Morero “is not fit to hold office.”
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