GOOD Speech by Matthew Cook,
GOOD National Chairperson and City of Johannesburg Councillor
29 May 2025
*Note to Editors: This speech was delivered during today’s debate on the Joburg Budget
Speaker, yesterday, the MMC of Finance delivered the 2025/2026 City of Joburg Budget Speech. As GOOD, we had hoped that the MMC would deliver a positive and optimistic budget which would assure the residents of Joburg that their voices were being considered and that the city was addressing the litany of pressing issues which face Joburg residents daily.
Instead, we received what could only be considered as an angry campaign speech that delivered regurgitated buzz words and highlighted that overburdened residents will have to cough up more while the city continues to deteriorate.
Speaker, the residents of Joburg know that Budgets are about numbers, not words.
However, instead of delivering a budget that was full of numbers and the details to back those numbers up, residents had hundreds of lofty hyperboles and promises strung together in an unappetizing word salad which passed the blame Joburg’s chaos back to residents like a hot potato.
Speaker, when numbers were mentioned, they were rattled off in quick succession with no justification and plan on how these numbers will be achieved before heading back to more waffle.
Speaker, The MMC noted that the city’s degradation is caused by “illegal dumping, informal invasions, vandalism, cable theft, and bylaw non-compliance and that this erodes dignity, drives away investment, and costs the municipality millions of rand.”
If the MMC was honest, she would have noted that while these issues do contribute to the problems facing the city, the biggest problems facing the city is this council. Political bickering, financial mismanagement, a complete breakdown in service delivery and corruption which steals directly from the poor and brings Joburg to its knees.
This city writes off hundreds of millions of rands every year due to irregular and wasteful expenditure and corruption. How is it that the MMC for Finance can spin it to blame residents for Joburg’s degradation?
GOOD would like to assure the residents of Joburg, you are not the problem. This council is.
The MMC further mentioned that “it is not enough to deliver services. We must also protect them”. Speaker, please could you let the MMC know that in order to protect services, you must be delivering them.
It is also noted that the MMC mentioned that dreamers flock to Johannesburg. It is true that the City of Gold has attracted dreamers. I am one of them.
I moved to Johannesburg in 2012 to chase my dreams but like most residents of Joburg will now admit, our biggest dreams have become our worst nightmares.
Joburg is crumbling and deteriorating at an accelerated rate and opportunities are drying up for those who are not politically connected.
Speaker, we have heard of an institutional review for years but nothing has been presented to this house. Instead, in yesterday’s speech we learned that employee-related costs are now at 25% of the City’s budget, exceeding R21.6 billion.
While residents suffer with a complete breakdown in service delivery across the city, the city continues to prioritise salaries for the connected few rather than focusing on what matters most to the 6 million residents of Johannesburg.
Speaker, Joburg’s 2025/26 Budget, fails the most vulnerable and continues to cripple the already overburdened and financially struggling resident.
It is a budget that clings to old habits while ignoring growing public frustration and the urgent need for pro-poor reform.
The City’s R84.8 billion operating revenue and R80.7 billion expenditure projections are based on flawed assumptions, including unjustifiable tariffs and underperformance in collections. Rather than cut waste and inefficiency, this administration chooses to shift the financial burden to already struggling communities.
Despite numerous commitments from the Executive and public outcry, the R200 prepaid electricity surcharge remains in the budget. This charge punishes low-income residents who rely on prepaid meters to avoid debt. It’s a regressive and frankly brutal measure. Residents across Joburg still must make the decision to buy a loaf of bread or buy units of electricity.
We are aware of major infrastructure backlogs, water and electricity infrastructure is crumbling, potholes are getting bigger, and traffic lights are not working across the city. Joburg Water has a backlog of R27 billion in infrastructure backlogs.
The budget does not address this and continues to underfund the most critical issues that affect residents across Joburg. How can we justify cutting R2.5 million in road infrastructure when the number of potholes and traffic light issues are increasing?
Speaker, GOOD has raised concerns about the Mayors Bomb Squad, which is now being referred to as the “inner-city war room”. Yesterday, we heard that this war room is now operational. In fact, we heard that there are multiple war rooms.
Where are these war rooms, what are they costing, who is operating them, and why are we as councillors still not able to see these plans?
Speaker, the Mayor showed us that he can send an email in his SOCA, perhaps he or the MMC of Finance could send an email to us as councillors so that we are aware of the war room plans, what is being done and what it’s costing.
When the Mayor and the MMC for Finance have finished lecturing us on how to send emails and using fancy buzz words like bomb squad and war room to avoid fixing the broken city we hold dear, let us know. Maybe then we can get back to the real work that is needed.
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