•DA doubts the City settled its R5.25bn Eskom debt.
•City challenged to provide proof of payment.
•PAIA filed to trace the funds.
The DA has strong reason to believe that the City of Johannesburg has not, in fact, settled its R5.25 billion debt with Eskom. Despite much fanfare as the ANC approaches its manifesto launch, residents have likely been lied to.
We challenge the City, and particularly Mayor Morero, to provide documentary evidence of every payment made towards the claimed R5.25 billion settlement.
I have also submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to establish exactly how these funds moved through the City, where the money originated, which accounts were used, and what payments were actually made to Eskom.
If there is nothing to hide, the City will provide this information without delay.
This is particularly important given City Power’s financial position. City Power recorded a R2.84 billion loss in only the first six months of the 2025/26 financial year. Its business model remains fundamentally broken: it cannot sustainably recover enough revenue to meet its enormous costs and obligations.
Moving billions around may settle one account today, but it does not create new money.
If money was redirected from elsewhere in the City to deal with the Eskom crisis, residents deserve to know which services, suppliers, or projects will ultimately carry the cost.
We want the City to release the bank records, payment confirmations, and supporting financial documentation necessary to reconcile the R5.25 billion figure announced to the public.
As outlined in our Manifesto 2026, if elected, we will keep the lights on by reinvesting electricity revenue into electrical infrastructure, maintaining grids, enabling municipalities to buy and sell their own power, and supporting households and businesses that can feed electricity back into the system. Not through dodgy deals.
Johannesburg residents have a right to know what happened to their money.
We will follow the money and establish the truth.