City of Johannesburg deputy mayor and member of the mayoral committee for finance Loyiso Masuku on Wednesday presented the municipality's budget for 2026/27.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
City of Johannesburg deputy mayor and Finance Member of the Mayoral Committee Loyiso Masuku announced the municipality’s R97.1 billion budget on Wednesday.
Masuku tabled the budget amidst the city’s financial troubles, including Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s concerns over its finances.
“Allow me to now table before council the budget for the 2026/27 financial year: operating revenue: R90.4bn, operating expenditure: R88.3bn, projected surplus: R2.1bn (before taxation and capital grants), capital budget: R8.8 bn (R25.3bn over the medium term),” Masuku said.
She added that that the municipality was tabling a total budget of R97.1bn for the 2026/27 financial year.
“Our key revenue drivers are electricity (R27.8bn), water and wastewater (R21.5bn), property rates (R18.8bn), and refuse removal (R3.6bn),” Masuku announced.
According to the MMC, Johannesburg is also running out of landfill space.
“This is not a distant problem – it is a structural risk. Pikitup’s reform focuses on fleet modernisation, progressive closure of end-of-life landfill sites and planning for alternative waste treatment infrastructure.
The operating expenditure allocation of approximately R5.2bn will support landfill rehabilitation, fleet reliability, waste diversion, illegal dumping removal, circular economy initiatives, waste-to-energy partnerships and community education.
According to Masuku, the municipality’s electricity utility has embarked on a turnaround strategy focusing on infrastructure investment to rehabilitate the distribution network, revenue enhancement and billing accuracy, loss reduction through smart metering and supervisory control and data acquisition upgrades.
In addition, the city wants the diversification of the energy mix through solar, independent power producers and small-scale embedded generation as well as organisational restructuring to position City Power as an energy services platform.
“The budget allocates approximately R28.3bn in operating expenditure to City Power and a capital programme of R6.7bn for the medium term. These resources will support grid strengthening, smart metering, electricity loss reduction, informal settlement electrification, public lighting, embedded generation and renewable energy projects."
The city is finalising development finance linked to energy projects, including a recent council approved loan facility from KfW (German State-owned Development and promotional bank) worth approximately €200 million (over R3.8bn) to support City Power’s infrastructure pipeline.
Additionally, the municipality is currently engaged in discussions with Eskom on the current debt and recovery interventions with the support and collaborative efforts from national government, SA Local Government Association, regulators and financial institutions.
“Energy reform is not optional – it is central to Johannesburg’s economic survival. We welcome the ongoing open dialogue between the Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Eskom Group chief executive Dan Marokane and ourselves the City of Johannesburg,” Masuku stated.
She promised that a secure energy future was at the heart of building Johannesburg and that it starts with the investments the municipality made on Wednesday.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za