Grant Funding, Audit Concerns and Accountability to Dominate Council Agenda

Treasury Threat Raises Stakes for Joburg’s Final Council Meeting of the Current Financial Year.

Johannesburg’s financial management is under intense scrutiny as the City faces a looming risk of losing access to a R3.6 billion equitable share grant. The upcoming Council meeting is a critical opportunity for City leaders to demonstrate compliance with National Treasury requirements, address concerns raised by Parliament and the Auditor-General, and provide residents with clear, credible plans to improve accountability, governance, and financial stability.

The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) has called on residents to closely monitor the City of Johannesburg’s Council meeting on 23–24 June 2026, describing it as a critical test of the City’s financial governance and compliance with National Treasury requirements.

The concern stems from Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s directive that the City revise its unfunded 2025/26 adjustment budget and ensure compliance in its 2026/27 budget. Failure to do so could result in the withholding of the July equitable share transfer, placing approximately R3.6 billion at risk.

The JCA argues that there is currently no clear public evidence that the City has met the Minister’s conditions. Key financial recovery documents, including the Financial Turnaround Framework and a strategy to prevent unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, are expected to be tabled at the meeting after previously being withdrawn.

Recent parliamentary hearings by SCOPA and findings from the Auditor-General have heightened concerns. The Auditor-General reported a regression in the City’s audit outcomes, with the core municipality receiving a qualified audit opinion due to persistent weaknesses in financial controls and reporting. Although the consolidated municipal group received an unqualified audit opinion with findings, this was not a clean audit and does not eliminate concerns about governance failures.

The statement further highlights ongoing financial mismanagement, noting that the City had already declared R3.636 billion in new unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure during 2025/26. Parliament also raised concerns about poor consequence management, procurement weaknesses, service delivery inefficiencies, and inaccurate indigent registers that may undermine support for vulnerable households.

The JCA concludes that the Council meeting must provide clear answers on Treasury compliance, the safety of the July grant allocation, accountability measures, and the City’s plans to restore financial discipline and public trust.