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South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said he would reject political pressure to bail out Johannesburg ahead of crucial local elections as he was under pressure to strengthen his African National Congress party's prospects after several serious setbacks in the elections.
The beleaguered commercial capital has struggled to provide basic services like water as it has been cycled through nine mayors in a decade – many of whom are affiliated with the ANC – and will face a high-profile mayoral challenge from Helen Zille, chair of the pro-business Democratic Alliance, later this year.
The prospect of losing control of the country's economic powerhouse has pitted Godongwana and other fiscal opponents in the ANC, who have traditionally controlled the finance ministry, against those in the party who support spending money on social programs and improving the party's electoral prospects.
Officials in Johannesburg, a city of 6 million people led by ANC Mayor Dada Morero, have pressured the treasury for emergency funding. “There are some people who said we should give them money, but I said, ‘No, it can't work’,” Godongwana told the FT, adding that he was protected by a constitutional provision stipulating equal treatment for municipalities.
Still, the government reserved the right to put a failing city into administration, Godongwana said. “There is a constitutional provision that you can use to intervene in a municipality so that you can restructure the finances,” he said, adding that the option was being “considered.”
His refusal to loosen the purse strings comes against a backdrop of fiscal tightening that has helped South Africa rebuild its macroeconomic credibility, leading to the country receiving its first sovereign credit upgrade in nearly 20 years last November.
“I have reached the target which means I can provide a credible path forward,” he said, referring to three consecutive primary surpluses that laid the foundation for strong growth along with the end of power cuts. The economy is expected to grow 1.6 percent this year, much faster than in 2025.
Nationally, the district's DA is in a 10-party coalition with the ANC, but the veteran politician and former mayor of Cape Town has focused ruthlessly on the ANC's appalling record of service delivery in Johannesburg in his campaign.
Despite an annual budget of R89.4 billion ($5.4 billion) – more than some small African countries – the city council struggles to maintain basic maintenance.
The water crisis is seen as a particular weakness for the ANC in the Johannesburg election. According to the non-profit organization Water Community Action Network, more than 50 percent of piped water is lost due to leaks, and 25 percent of state schools and 46 percent of clinics do not have running water.
On one occasion, taps ran dry for several days in one of the largest hospitals in Johannesburg. Operations were canceled while doctors were asked to bring their own drinking water to work.
“Throwing money at the problem is not necessarily a solution,” said Rashid Seedat, executive director of the Gauteng City-region Observatory think-tank. “There are very significant governance challenges in the city with respect to top leadership.”
The Ministry of Finance was trying to encourage local governments, including Johannesburg, to “ringfence” the revenue collected from water rates and plow it back into service provision. Johannesburg collected R9bn in water charges every year, but put only R1bn into service delivery, Godongwana said.
In February, Panyaza Lesufi, the ANC premier of Gauteng, where Johannesburg is located, faced public outcry after he suggested he too suffered from water shortages that sometimes forced him to go to hotels to shower.
Last week, the ANC gave the DA 12 hours to remove a billboard that ridiculed Lesufi's comments, threatening court action on the grounds of allegedly breaching the electoral code. The DA billboard and related social media posts read, “ANC showers in hotels. You have no water. Vote DA to put water in your taps.”
The district's campaign features a TikTok video of her feet in what appears to be a lake. As the camera pulls back she reveals that this burst is the main source of the water, the result of what she claims are years of neglect by the ANC.