The ANC’s Johannesburg chair, Dada Morero, who was also the MMC for finance, is the new mayor of Johannesburg. He replaces Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda, who was in the position for just over a year.
This is the metro’s ninth (or is it 10th?) mayor in three years, reflecting the unprecedented political instability and, it must be said, immaturity of the self-serving political parties that comprise the metro’s council.
Johannesburg has been in a state of constant political crisis since it became clear after the last local elections in 2021 that no party would have a majority. The game of mayoral musical chairs began when Geoffrey Makhubo left office in 2021 only to be replaced by Jolidee Matongo, Mpho Moerane, Mpho Phalatse, Morero (briefly), Phalatse (again, briefly), Thapelo Amad, Kenny Kunene (for two days), Gwamanda and finally Morero (again).
While all of the political shenanigans have been going on, the metro has faltered. There’s increasing evidence that it is facing a liquidity crisis. Failure by Johannesburg’s council to urgently pass a motion approving a R2bn loan facility from the Development Bank of Southern Africa to deal with liquidity issues almost plunged the metro into a full-blown financial crisis about two years ago, threatening its ability to pay salaries and meet its financial obligations.
The council’s failure to pass the motion was orchestrated by the ANC and its allies, which were at that point in opposition in the council and refused to participate in the passing of resolutions. This piece of political theatre caused financial institutions and ratings agencies to question the financial stability of the metro and is just one example of the very real fallout coalition politics has had on the stability of the metro. (After an ANC-controlled coalition gained power in council a resolution approving the loan was quickly passed.)
Councillors have proved that they can get on with things when properly motivated. Last year, shortly after voting to hike rates for water and sanitation by 9% and electricity by 15%, Johannesburg’s councillors passed a motion authorising themselves a generous salary increase — to the upper limits allowed by national regulations. Clearly, nothing brings a group of local councillors together like the prospect of giving themselves more money. Sworn enemies such as the DA and ANC nobly put their differences aside to pass the motion.
In defence of the motion, ANC councillor Tefo Raphadu said: “In light of the situation that we are facing in this country, councillors are the most neglected people, and we support the [salary increases], which should be given to them as part-time workers.” The increase meant the “neglected” part-time Johannesburg councillors Raphadu referred to now earn R562,265 a year. The increase also meant the mayor now earns R1.5m, up from R1.44m, the speaker earns R1.2m, and MMCs and whips get R1.1m a year.
Though objectively speaking most of us would agree Johannesburg’s councillors are being generously compensated for their efforts, at the time of the increase more than half of the 270 councillors were in arrears on their municipal services bills. Collectively they owed about R3.1m, forcing the administration to threaten legal action against errant councillors.
Not all delays in the council doing its work are deliberately orchestrated by political parties. There is also the issue of low councillor productivity. The Johannesburg council’s first sitting of the year at the end of January, usually a symbolically significant occasion, started an hour late as the speaker begged and pleaded to get enough members inside the chamber to form a quorum. Members chatted outside and took their time to finish breakfast and, when the meeting opened, asked for delays for party caucuses. A council sitting costs the city about R600,000 a day, mainly in catering fees.
While councillors engage in petty point scoring and eat long, expensive breakfasts on the ratepayer’s tab, the metro’s infrastructure is crumbling. A recently leaked council document puts the infrastructure backlog in Johannesburg at a shocking R221bn — no surprise to anyone who lives in the metro and drives down its ever-deteriorating roads.
While the cost of neglected infrastructure ratchets up, the National Treasury’s latest quarterly financial data puts Johannesburg’s creditors’ bill at R3.7bn.
A few weeks ago the metro took out a R2.5bn capital loan from French development bank AFD after opposition parties in council put aside their misgivings, passing the motion on its third passage before council. While taking out long-term loans is a normal and necessary part of business for municipalities, it is not clear how much this loan was needed for infrastructure (capital investment) purposes and what part of it was needed for short-term liquidity purposes. At the time, Morero, who was still head of the finance committee, bemoaned the fact that the motion for the loan had not passed initially, saying it “makes our cash position difficult”.
Johannesburg could, of course, increase its revenue (and liquidity) by improving the collection of outstanding monies owed to it. The Treasury’s quarterly data shows that Johannesburg is owed an alarming R55.5bn, 80% of which is historical residential debt. But when it comes to pressing ANC-supporting areas such as Soweto to pay their municipal bills, the council has yet to show much stomach for confrontation. Even an attempt to introduce a R200 flat fee for prepaid electricity a few weeks ago resulted in an embarrassing climbdown and scrapping of the proposal by the mayor.
Of course, when your mayor represents only 1% of the local electorate, as was the case until very recently, and has no real power, it is not really up to him to get residents to pay for the services they use. In truth, the position is reduced to that of pure tokenism, and the incumbent is an empty suit swanning around the city making meaningless speeches, an object of derision.
Of those with the real power — the ANC councillors in a rickety coalition that could collapse at any moment — no-one’s in the mood to take the hard, unpopular decisions more stable municipalities take all the time, such as forcing people to pay for services or holding councillor salaries steady. This has been the essential problem in Johannesburg recently; while everyone wants power, no-one wants to take responsibility.
It’s fitting then that the person with the real power, Morero — the man previously behind the coalition behind the mayor (it’s complicated) — has finally got his chance to take charge. Morero received 75% of votes in council, indicating a considerably strengthened position for him and the ANC, and a mandate to govern with confidence.
With any luck, the long-suffering residents of the metro will see Morero rule out the last part of the current five-year political term in stable fashion. Of course, it’s no small irony that Morero is now responsible for sorting out the problems Johannesburg faces: a growing liquidity problem, a large creditors’ bill and a R55.5bn hole in its revenue budget. We will soon see if he’s up for the challenge.
• Allan, a former special adviser to a previous local government minister, is MD of Municipal IQ.
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