By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City of Johannesburg (COJ) Mayor Dada Morero delivered his final State of the City address (Soca) at the St Mary Anglican church in the Johannesburg (CBD) on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.
Morero outlined the City’s plans and priorities for the future of Johannesburg.
His speech highlighted efforts to revitalise the inner city and plans for stricter revenue collection.
“We have witnessed revenue growth of 9.3 % supported by tariff increases, operational surpluses of R4.1 billion forecast,” he said.
Morero also pointed to key achievements, including the official launch of the Brixton Reservoir and high-impact service delivery operations in the City. Future plans included the renaming of Lanseria Airport, inner city protection and greening initiatives, partnership funded projects, rental flats and renewable projects.
Johannesburg is among several municipalities owing Eskom, with the total municipal debt currently standing at R5.2 billion.
Eskom said it is working with some municipalities through its Distribution Agency Agreement (DAA) programme, which includes support measures such as smart meter installations, revenue collection assistance and technical interventions aimed at stabilising electricity delivery.
Morero says efforts are under way to resolve the dispute between the City of Johannesburg and Eskom.
While he insisted the city is in a strong financial position, Morero urged residents not to be alarmed by Eskom’s threats to disconnect the metro from the grid over non-payment.
“This challenge is not only affecting the City of Johannesburg, but several municipalities across the country,” Morero pointed out.
He also dismissed claims that the city is broke and on the brink of collapse, maintaining that his administration remains in control of its finances.
Morero said the city will implement guidance from the National Treasury and Departments of Cooperative Governance (COGTA) that will help to reform and strengthen Municipal Trading Entities.
He said they have an agreement in principle with KFW, a German Bank, to provide a loan of 200 million euros to fund energy-related projects, which aligned with City Power’s project pipeline and infrastructure funding requirements.
“The city as the borrower and City Power as an Execution Agent are currently finalising a contract with KFW with the expectation that KFW will be disbursing the agreed loan amount before end of June 2026.” he said
Morero has also called for the National Treasury, Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate finances of the city.
His speech was poorly received by civil society organisations, including JoburgCAN, and Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).
Meanwhile the owners of the Marble Towers building in Joburg CBD have filed an urgent interdict against the demolition of illegal structures.
Morero led the operation targeting buildings suspected of criminal activities with a cohort of more than 500 people.
The operation included South African Police Service (SAPS) members, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers, Home Affairs and municipal authorities.