The City of Johannesburg is facing financial challenges in fixing its water, electricity, and road infrastructure, yet it is owed more than R670,000 by the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) for rates and taxes.
This department, tasked with ensuring the financial sustainability, governance, and compliance of municipalities, fails to meet its own obligations. This is not hypocrisy; it is a direct undermining of local government that will have major negative consequences for residents in terms of service delivery.
Municipalities like Johannesburg are under severe financial pressure. Every rand owed impacts service delivery, infrastructure maintenance, and the City’s ability to meet its constitutional mandate. When a provincial department refuses or fails to pay, it sets a dangerous precedent that weakens the entire system of cooperative governance.
The DA Gauteng finds it completely unacceptable that a department tasked with enforcing accountability is itself in arrears. This reflects a broader failure of financial discipline within the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG).
We demand that the MEC for COGTA urgently account for:
Why has this debt been allowed to accumulate?
What steps are being taken to settle it immediately?
What consequences will follow for the officials responsible?
The DA Gauteng will not stand by while residents are expected to pay for services, yet government departments do not. Accountability must apply to everyone.
A DA-led provincial government would ensure that all government departments pay their rates and taxes. All of our residents deserve a government that is committed to fixing service delivery in the province.
We will fight to ensure that every cent owed to the City of Johannesburg is paid by CoGTA.