ActionSA exposes stark hypocrisy of the ANC-led Johannesburg coalition to approve R2 billion DBSA loan

22 February 2023  

The decision by the current of Johannesburg coalition - where the ANC and EFF are dominant partners – to ask city council to approve a R2 billion loan agreement during a council meeting on Thursday exposes the extent to which the ANC and EFF would compromise the best interest of residents for political expediency.

On several occasions over this past year the ANC, EFF and its coalition partners attempted to block the approval of the R2 billion Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) loan agreement while the multi-party coalition, which included ActionSA, was in government.

During their time in the opposition benches the ANC and EFF voted against the R2 billion DBSA loan while Colleen Makhubele deferred a vote on the loan from December to January when she postponed a council Programming Committee meeting.

The R2 billion loan, which formed part of the City of Johannesburg’s funding plan for the medium-term capital budget that the City’s Council approved in May 2022, was intended to strengthen the city’s service delivery.

The ANC and EFF - who have entered coalition agreements nationwide in the run-up to the 2024 elections – however said that the city’s finances first had to be approved before the City Council could approve the loan agreement.

But, roughly three weeks since the multi-party government was removed and replaced by and ANC-EFF coalition, the same ANC-EFF coalition is now asking the Council to approve the same R2 billion loan.

This demonstrates the lengths to which the ANC-EFF coalition was willing to go in order to score political points at the expense of service delivery. If this loan was not good for the city in December, what makes it good this week?

ActionSA is now concerned that, due to delays in the approval of the loan, with only four months before the end of the City of Johannesburg’s financial year, the City will be unable to repay the loan before the end of the financial year, as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

Section 45 of the MFMA stipulates that a municipality is to repay all its short-term debt before the end of the financial year in which such debt was acquired. ActionSA has already written to Speaker Makhubele to request that the Executive provide a detailed loan repayment plan to Council.

While the ANC, EFF and partners are willing to frustrate service delivery in order to serve their narrow political interests, ActionSA will fight hard to defend the interests of our residents.

For too long, political parties have made decisions in the best interest of their nefarious political agendas and not the citizens they serve. As a constructive opposition in the City of Johannesburg, ActionSA will do everything in its power to ensure that the needs of residents are prioritised. 

Issued by Funzi Ngobeni, ActionSA COJ Caucus Leader, 22 February 2023