EDITORIAL: Mayor Amad’s ‘loan’ amazes and amuses

Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad of the minority Al Jama-ah party’s recent announcement that he had secured a R9.5bn loan to ease the city’s financial distress stunned the city’s long-suffering ratepayers and prompted giggles in financial and political circles. That he was so coy about the “loan” prompted murmurs of disquiet about the state of the finances of Johannesburg and other metros where shaky coalition arrangements have been installed. 

In 2022, under the DA-led coalition that had Mpho Phalatse as mayor, the City of Joburg secured R2bn in loan finance from the Development Bank of Southern Africa. In November, Amad and the ANC voting with the EFF formed a majority in the council to vote down the R2bn package. But just four months later, the motion was back on the table, this time with the support of the ANC and EFF. 

It was a startling about-turn, raising questions whether the interests of the ratepayers of Joburg had slipped down the list of council priorities, and that political one-upmanship was now councillors’ primary objective. According to the new coalition spokespeople, the loan had been rejected because Phalatse had not been forthcoming about the true state of the city’s finances. 

Now, with mayor Amad raising the prospect of another loan, alarm bells have been sounding, with the new majority coalition asking out aloud whether he is the right person for the job. As it happens, when it came to the vote on the R2bn, the DA, which had initially floated the proposal, then opposed it. 

According to the DA, the original motion was sunk because the Patriotic Alliance splinter party refused to support it because it had demanded, and failed in its apparent quest to land the most “lucrative’’ portfolios in the city government, economic and infrastructure development. That these posts should even be described as lucrative illustrates the tendency for parties to view local government as an essential form of patronage to help extend their influence and power. 

It is clear that the interests of ratepayers, who have to endure decaying roads and city infrastructure and a level of service delivery that is less than optimal, are coming in a distant second to parties’ narrow interests. 

Joburg remains the economic hub of SA and should therefore be playing a leading role in facilitating economic development. It has a population of about 6-million people, and contributes immensely to SA’s GDP. The Covid-19 lockdowns hit the city hard, with revenue collection coming in much lower than previously budgeted estimates, and placing strain on expenditure. The city was said to owe its service providers up to R5bn. 

SA needs vibrant cities if it is to prosper. Managed correctly they could drive growth and enterprise. As things stand, though, party politics has become a distraction from the real task at hand, and while the politicians jostle for influence the city withers. 

A way has to be devised to protect our cities and their finances from the vagaries of politics, especially in this era of coalition government, which will be with us for the foreseeable future. We need to insulate the important from the trivial and ego-driven interests of politicians who would turn metro finances into their own plaything.