Johannesburg finance MMC Margaret Arnolds tabled a R89.4bn budget for the 2025/26 financial year that aims to deal with a slew of persistent service delivery problems.
President Cyril Ramaphosa led a national executive delegation that met the Johannesburg executive council in March as part of efforts to aimed at addressing service delivery challenges in a metro that is responsible for 16% of SA’s GDP and employs 12% of the national workforce.
Describing the fully funded budget as pro-poor and pro-growth, Arnolds said critical sources of revenue included electricity (R25.6bn), water and waste water (R20bn), refuse removal R3.3bn, and the national fuel levy (R4.5bn).
Operating revenue was projected at R84.8bn and operating expenditure at R80.7bn, making for a surplus R4.1bn. The capital budget amounts to just over R8.7bn or R26.2bn over the medium term.
It is time for Johannesburg to rise again — not as a city of crisis, but as a city of solutions. This budget is our rallying call for a new era of alignment, accountability, and ambition.
“The anticipated operating surplus of R4.1bn is not for sitting idle in reserves. It is earmarked for strategic capital investment, debt servicing, and infrastructure refurbishment. Coupled with over R4.1bn in capital grants and contributions, we have the fiscal headroom to expand capital expenditure while retaining solvency,” Arnolds said.
She said the metro has distilled its 11 mayoral priorities into three critical pillars including service delivery enhancement, financial sustainability, and bylaw enforcement and urban management.
“It is time for Johannesburg to rise again — not as a city of crisis, but as a city of solutions. This budget is our rallying call for a new era of alignment, accountability, and ambition,” Arnolds said.
“In a city still bearing the scars of apartheid spatial planning and economic exclusion, our duty is not just to deliver services — it is to correct historical injustice. That is why this administration unapologetically centres the indigent and working class in our budget through the continuation of a robust expanded social package. This is not charity — it is justice.”
City Power will receive R4.6bn over the next three years to stabilise the metro’s grid, among other priorities. Johannesburg Water gets R5.6bn to deal with service delivery backlogs and infrastructure failure hotspots; Johannesburg Roads Agency receives R2.9bn over the medium term to upgrade high-traffic corridors and expand stormwater infrastructure. In addition, more than R3bn has been set aside for service delivery efforts in “underdeveloped regions” including Orange Farm, Lenasia South, Eldorado Park, the inner city, Bertrams, Yeoville, Diepsloot and Kaalfontein.
The city also received an allocation of R2.3bn from the national government through the Urban Settlements Development Grant. “This substantial investment is more than just a grant — it is a vote of confidence in the City of Johannesburg and its developmental agenda,” Arnolds said.
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