The DA has criticised the City of Joburg’s adjusted budget for 2025/26, which includes a R10bn wage deal for workers, saying it was a politically driven document that ignores the law, avoids transparency and places the future of SA’s economic and financial hub at risk.
The adjusted budget was passed by council on Friday, and key allocations within the operating budget focused, among others, on strengthening service delivery through “reprioritisation of existing resources” and supporting employee-related costs, “including the politically facilitated agreement (PFA) to ensure fair compensation aligned with workforce contributions”.
The PFA pertains to a R10bn wage agreement the city entered into with the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), aimed at aligning staff salaries with those of employees in other metropolitan municipalities.
The deal saw the metro committing to pay a minimum of R1.2bn, up to a maximum of R2bn, by March 2026; a minimum of R5bn, up to a maximum of R6bn by July 2026; and a payment of R4.1bn by July 2027.
This budget risks pushing the city further into financial instability and undermining already fragile service delivery.
— Chris Santana, DA shadow MMC for finance
DA Joburg finance shadow MMC Chris Santana said: “This budget risks pushing the city further into financial instability and undermining already fragile service delivery. We are deeply concerned that this budget fails to meet the most basic legal and financial standards required under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). This adjustment budget is a politically driven document that ignores the law, avoids transparency, and places the financial future of Johannesburg at risk.”
Santana said there was no clarity on how the PFA would be funded “or which existing services will be reduced or cut to accommodate it. An adjustment budget is not a blank cheque”.
“Council cannot be asked to approve new spending commitments without clear trade-offs, detailed costing, or a lawful funding source. That is reckless and potentially unlawful.”
Santana said the budget risked breaching Section 18 of the MFMA, “which requires that all municipal budgets must be fully funded and based on realistic revenue projections”.
“The law is clear: municipalities may not adopt unfunded budgets or commit to expenditure without lawful funding ... Johannesburg residents are already paying the price for poor governance, through failing roads, water outages, power interruptions, and collapsing service delivery. This budget does nothing to fix that. It makes it worse. We remain committed to fiscal discipline, transparency, and responsible governance as the foundation for restoring service delivery and rebuilding Johannesburg.”
Deputy mayor and finance MMC Loyiso Masuku said the adjusted budget did not introduce new funding but “requires departments and municipal entities to reprioritise within existing allocations to address service delivery pressures”.
The adjustment reflected updated project performance, funding realignment, the incorporation of additional grants, and corrections to over- and under-spending.
“The approval of this adjustment budget demonstrates the city’s commitment to responsive governance, ensuring that our financial planning remains aligned with current realities. We are prioritising critical infrastructure investments while also recognising the importance of fairly compensating our employees who are at the forefront of service delivery,” Masuku said.
The DA has consistently positioned itself as a political formation that is hostile to workers and their rights.
— Mpho Tladinyane, Samwu Gauteng provincial secretary
DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said the DA had served the metro with legal papers regarding the inclusion of the PFA in the adjusted budget. “Our attorneys are busy with that,” she said, adding the matter was sub judice.
“The DA believes that the inclusion of the PFA would place an unsustainable financial burden on the municipality and ultimately bankrupt the city, diverting critical funds away from much-needed service delivery to residents,” she said.
“At a time when Johannesburg faces an infrastructure backlog estimated at hundreds of billions of rands, residents expect responsible governance and a budget that prioritises fixing roads, restoring reliable electricity, maintaining water infrastructure, and improving basic services. Instead, the current administration has attempted to push through a budget that prioritises escalating employee costs and political agreements over the needs of residents.”
Samwu Gauteng provincial secretary Mpho Tladinyane said: “The recent decision by the DA to serve legal papers in an attempt to stop the implementation of this agreement confirms what workers across the country have long known: the DA has consistently positioned itself as a political formation that is hostile to workers and their rights. Time and again, the DA has sought to undermine collective bargaining agreements, reverse hard-won labour gains, and portray workers’ wages as the primary cause of municipal challenges.”
He added that the PFA was not a “reckless or arbitrary wage increase as portrayed by the DA... [it] is intended to address historical salary disparities that have existed for decades within the city of Johannesburg”.
In January, the City of Tshwane reached an agreement with Samwu over implementation of a wage agreement that will cost the capital city nearly R2bn.
Business Day reported in November 2025 that the capital city was scrambling to find nearly R2bn after it had opted not to appeal against a ruling by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (Salgbc) that it should abide by a 3.5% wage agreement with labour in 2021/22.
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