ActionSA President and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba has written to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, recommending that National Treasury appoint a technical support team to monitor funds that will be transferred to the City of Johannesburg.
In the letter, Mashaba also asked whether the City had submitted a satisfactory recovery plan before the funds are released and what mechanisms Treasury intends to use to ensure the money is spent only for its intended purposes.
The request comes as the City battles a liquidity crisis, with reports indicating it has only nine days of cash reserves and is relying on the reinstatement of its R3.6 billion equitable share allocation.
On 7 July 2026, National Treasury informed the City that it would withhold the allocation because of persistent failures to maintain fiscal discipline and increasing unauthorised, irregular and wasteful expenditure.
The warning from Minister Godongwana follows an earlier concern raised by National Treasury over the City’s R10 billion wage agreement with labour unions, which Treasury regards as unlawful because the administration cannot afford it.
According to ActionSA, Johannesburg is facing growing risks to service delivery, infrastructure investment and investor confidence, while millions of residents are bearing the consequences of poor governance and financial mismanagement.
The party says Executive Mayor Dada Morero and the City’s leadership have failed to uphold the governance and financial management standards required under the Municipal Finance Management Act.
ActionSA maintains that its request for further intervention from Minister Godongwana is not politically motivated or intended to interfere with the constitutional autonomy of National Treasury or the City’s administration. Instead, the party says the intervention is aimed at protecting residents by ensuring lawful financial administration and safeguarding the long term sustainability of South Africa’s economic hub.
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