Cornelis Boer

Attendance

Present

62

Leave of absence

3

Absent without leave

0

Arrived late

0

Left early

2

Reasons given for leave: Private business (3).

"Absent without leave" means the signed minutes of a meeting held while they were on council neither list them as present nor excuse them, and no similar name appears that day, so misspellings in the minutes don't count against anyone. Each square links to the minutes.

In the chamber

From the 10 sittings transcribed so far in their term. Times are approximate, to the nearest transcript line.

Not present when called

0

Times given the floor

29

Average wait to start

4 s

Average greetings first

8 s

Apology or leave of absence (1)

• 26 May 2026 · 00:15:08Private business. Leave of absence for urgent private business. sitting

Question withdrawn (2)

• 24 Jun 2026 · 05:00:34When called on item 70 at 05:00:39, he withdrew his speeches on items 70 and 72 because the reports had not served at Section 79. sitting
• 24 Jun 2026 · 05:48:26Councillor Boer confirmed he had withdrawn from speaking on item 72. sitting

In their words

Every time the chair gave them the floor in a transcribed sitting (29), newest first. The words are the AI transcript of that stretch of the livestream (Argon), so they can include the chair or an interjection; the time link is the place to check.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 09:45:01Motion 1: Renaming Wolmarans Street · 1 min 47 s

  Read what they said (251 words)

  Goeienaand, Mevrou die Speaker. Dis die heel waarskynlik my laaste toespraak vir die jaar en vir die termyn.

  I'm rising on Motion 1. The Freedom Front will never support a motion of changing an existing name into a new name. We just had Item 29 where it says in the body of the item there's 850,000 unnamed streets, but I think it must be 850. So,

  there are 850 streets that needs to be renamed. So, pick one of those streets and rename it to Dr. uZwi Radebe Street. Madam Speaker, I'm not going to repeat the history of Jacobus Wolmarans. This street was named after him in 1912. We just had Heritage Day last week where we celebrated our heritage, and this is typical of the

  of the ANC government. We have a day for youth, and we don't look after the youth. We got a Women's Day, and we don't look after our gender-based community. We got a Heritage Day for one day a year, and for the rest of the year we are busy destroying our heritage. The Freedom Front will not support this item. There are many streets that needs names, and if you want to build a community center

  and we want to name it after Dr. uZwi Radebe, by all means, but don't destroy our heritage by destroying our cultural names that got nothing to do with apartheid, it's got nothing to do with racism, that is part of our history. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 07:22:51Items 18 and 19: MFMA in-year financial reports · 4 min 45 s

  Read what they said (694 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker. En

  Praat jy op albei, né?

  Aangesien u nou so baie tyd het, kan ek sommer Councillor Mkhonza se vyf minute ook nog kry, asseblief?

  Uh-uh. Kom, kom, praat.

  All right, I'll start off with item number 18, the MFMA report for June 2026. That is the close of our financial year-end. We had cash balances at the bank of end of June of 2.8 billion, but as the previous speaker has said, we only spent 66% of our conditional grant spending. It means 1.6 billion rand was unpaid. I know we're still waiting for some adjustments,

  but if we take the 1.6 billion rand off our cash balance, we only had 1.2 billion rand in the bank, and that's why I said previously our financial position is still in dire straits. And we're also running the danger of having to repay the 1.6 billion rand unpaid CapEx on the grant spending. Madam Speaker, our two entities, City Power and Johannesburg Water, which we want to ring-fence,

  City Power used in the last financial year 3.8 billion rand which the core city had to inject into City Power to keep it afloat. For Johannesburg Water, it was 612 million. So, those two entities are screaming to be ring-fenced, but ring-fenced means you won't get money from core anymore, you have to stand on your own feet, and they cannot stand on their own feet. The collection rate for June was pretty okay, 88.5%,

  which lifted the year total to over 85%. We had a year-to-date loss of 1.2 billion rand, which is not good, because that means we can't even pay our loans. The big variances on the expenditure side was bulk purchases. We've spoken about it many times this year, 3 billion rand over budget. Debt impairment, 2 billion rand over budget, and salaries, 785 million rand over budget.

  Madam Speaker, those three items will all go again in our financial statements for 2025/2026 as unauthorised expenditures, and we warned about this, and it happened. For the item number 19, the July report, City Power's overdraft went up to 22.4 billion rand, and just for the month alone, it went up by 3 billion rand. And I've got an idea

  that that 3 billion is as a result of the Eskom debt that was paid either in full or partially, but it's a shocking amount of money that City Power owes the city, 22 billion rand. What saved us in July is we received our equitable share of 3.6 billion, and if I look at the figures, although the report doesn't say it in so much words, that 3.6 billion rand went directly over to

  City Power to pay to Eskom. The positive in July was the collection rate. The collection rate was 90.2%, and we really need to congratulate Lufuno on this. That was a great performance. But the problem what we do have is we have received our equitable share of 3.6 billion, that that share is supposed to keep us afloat up until the end of today, because it's a quarterly equitable share,

  but we spent it already in July on Eskom. So, I don't know how we're going to be afloat for the next couple of months. Our outstanding debt has increased to 79 billion rand, and I predicted two years ago that by the end of this term, our OpEx budget would probably be the same as our debtors' book, and we are nearly there. 79 billion is owed to the city and there's no sign of that amount coming down.

  Madam Speaker, I'm closing off. The concerning figure in July is Johannesburg Water. For the month of July alone, they are 22% under budget on their billing, and that is 224 million rand. So, we can clearly see Johannesburg Water's problems are just getting worse and worse. We are losing more and more water, and we're billing less and less. So, water is really our Achilles heel at the moment. Madam Speaker, I'm going to leave it there. I would like to leave some for my colleagues as well. Thank you very much.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 06:51:40Item 14: Financial sustainability background paper · 17 s

  Read what they said (34 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

  Thanks for all the inputs from the councillors, especially Councillor Santana, and we request council to approve the recommendations as being set out on page 14.6. Thank you very much.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 06:43:50Item 14: Financial sustainability background paper · 2 min 34 s

  Read what they said (355 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker. Ja, ek sny myself in twee, dis nie 'n probleem nie. Um,

  I'm rising to speak on item 14, the background paper. Madam Speaker, this paper is absolutely a jewel. Our researcher did put a lot of work into this report, and this is exactly where the success of the city is dependent on. Absolute oversight on all the policies that are implemented by the city. The financial turnaround framework will not succeed unless we get

  reports on a timeous basis and on a regular basis to see what is the progress of the implementation of the report. And I'm afraid to say under the current government of local unity, there is but absolutely no political will to make anything work in this city. As one example, we are presented today in council with two Section 71 reports for June and for July. Madam Speaker, we had our Finance Committee

  meeting exactly two weeks ago on the 16th of November, uh, 16th of September, and those reports were not even presented to the committee to do oversight. This is only one example. We are withheld of information to fulfill our role, although there is knowledgeable people, a lot of knowledgeable people on the Section 79 that can support with this financial turnaround. It actually is getting

  withheld from us. So this document really addresses those issues. And as long as we cannot do financial oversight, then there will be no success on the implementation of, and the monitoring of the turnaround strategy. There are no performance targets set for management to link to real performance. So the entities' management, the CEOs and all the senior staff members,

  are not getting monitored, and oversight is not getting done on them. And

  50 sekondes.

  unless we change that, we are going to run into a problem because those entities, they act as they want, and they are not held responsible. So there must be consequence management to them as well. But the Freedom Front Plus notes this report. It is a wonderful report, and we approve all the recommendations. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 05:24:40Item 8 Employment Equity Policy Framework · 2 min 55 s

  Read what they said (367 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

  Uh, fellow councillors, I'm rising on item number 8, the Employment Equity Policy Framework. Um, this framework is, of course, based on the Employment Equity Act. It's an Act of 1998, one of the ANC's racial acts that they imposed on us, an Act that created and is responsible for the massive unemployment that we see in our country.

  This Act is a diabolic act which should have never been put on the on the law book. But, Madam Speaker, it is there, and our city has got a policy around this. But we are not adhering to our own policy at all. Um, the Act provides that um people have to be appointed based on their racial um representation in the city.

  And the Act specifically says if some racial groups are overexposed and some are underexposed, when we apply new persons uh in a position, that we have to fill them in that specific underrepresented um category, which causes enormous problems. Uh, because if a person from one category applies for a job, highly qualified, we cannot appoint him because he unfortunately belongs to an overrepresented group. So, this policy is absolutely diabolic.

  Um, it also speaks to foreign nationals. Uh, funny enough, if we read on page 9 of the policy, in line with the Group EE Policy, uh, the City of Johannesburg prioritize the employment and advancement of South African citizens from designated groups. The appointment of non-designated foreign nationals is not the norm and shall be considered only in exceptional and justifiable circumstances, and nobody knows what those justifiable circumstances are because you also employ in the city foreign nationals above our local people that are unemployed.

  Um, it says further, a non-designated foreign national may be considered for short-term or fixed-term employment where the position requires

  dertig sekondes.

  demonstrable scarce or critical skills, no suitably qualified South African citizen is available. Madam Speaker, I don't buy into those criteria because we do have the skills in South Africa. Madam Speaker, this city need employment quality, and we do not need employment equity, and we reject this policy with all we have. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 04:06:16Item 2 Draft Clean Air Zone Policy · 2 min 42 s

  Read what they said (399 words)

  Madam Speaker, um yes, this is an item that we can talk about for for a long time. But um let me just summarize it. Of course, we approve the the the draft clean air zone policy for the city because it's something that we that we owe to our children to to leave a city that is better than it was before. And the city is really, especially in air pollution, it is a very dirty city.

  And we see in the report and in the in the policy the the big causes are here: the CO2 emissions from from vehicle exhaust, uh the dust um and the burning of rubble, and then the veld fires. Those four items are are are main culprits in in the air pollution. Um the the CO2 emissions, um I think the city can really uh start looking at

  electrifying our buses, our public transport system, which is also contributing quite towards the CO2 emissions. Um the dust, uh tarring of dust roads is is not not negotiable. We have to informalize, we have to formalize our informal um settlements and we have to tar our dust roads. It's stuff that that lays on the plate of the city to do. Uh the burning of rubble, um Madam Speaker, uh it's it's it's

  it is our um background. People living in informal settlements and that have hardly got food to eat and that are battling to survive every single day, their last worry is about um air quality and clean air. So they will be burning their rubble because Pikitup does not remove the rubble. So they have got no other choice than to burn their rubble. Um so

  um they will they will burn coal, they will burn wood because they are not electrified. So the city has got a huge task laying ahead, especially when it comes to burning of rubble, which which got really got uh poisonous and toxic gases um emission into the air.

  30 sekonde.

  To uh to really jack up our services, to make sure Pikitup cleans up our informal settlements, um uh educate our residents, electrify our informal settlements. And then on veld fires, also educate our residents and do bylaw um uh enforcement on on trespassers. But the policy is great, but we need to do the implementation of that. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 03:31:05Item 1 C40 accelerators · 2 min 42 s

  Read what they said (320 words)

  Goeiedag, Mevrou die Speaker.

  I'm speaking on item number one, the request for approval by council of the C40 and UN-Habitat Urban Planning Accelerator. Madam Speaker, Johannesburg is not an island on its own. We are part of a global community. And as much as we hear about a fantastic city in our country called Cape Town,

  there are also other cities all over the world which are fantastic cities. And it is great for Johannesburg to be part of this C40 to know and to see what is happening in other cities all over the world, cities with different histories, some of those cities being over a thousand years old, facing various challenges.

  And Johannesburg got its unique challenges that we need to address as well. With the interaction with other cities and to take advice and to take examples from them is good to have. We do not need to reinvent the wheel if it is already invented. So,

  the Freedom Front is supporting those partnerships and agreements with other cities all over the world, especially on the Thriving Food Systems Accelerator. We need to maintain food security, especially for our vulnerable population, being our children, and it is of absolute utmost importance. And the city can also

  think proactive in that and maybe take lessons from other cities, but also come forward with utilizing our open spaces for maybe small-scale farming projects, which will create jobs, and they can be financial sustainable as well, and produce food for our residents.

  They must be on a financial sustainable basis.

  Vyftig sekondes.

  And then we also need to think of bringing our fresh produce markets closer to our high-density areas. The current fresh produce market is far away from our residents, and we can also bring that into our communities. So the Freedom Front notes this report and we approve the partnership with other cities. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:04:53Item 27: General valuation roll extension · 1 min 35 s

  Read what they said (217 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker. Um, dankie vir die geleentheid. Um,

  welcome to fellow Councillors again. I rise on item 27, the request for extension of the period of validity of the general valuation roll. Um, the report is quite concerning. Um, where it says that they are undercapacitated, um, they've got uh only five vacancies,

  What they also said from the funded positions, since October last year, 12 people has resigned. And that is quite concerning. Why are people resigning uh in a country where unemployment is at such a high rate? Um, so it's a concerning uh note that we see in this report. Um,

  But having said that, um it is of such an importance that we do a proper valuation roll, and if we don't have the capacity to do it now, um it is the most logic thing to extend it by a year, which is allowed in terms of the Act. So uh the Freedom Front is supporting this item,

  but we're also uh putting questions mark why are people resigning from this department uh just a year ahead of the new valuation. And that is something that really needs to be investigated um and get a solution for that. But uh the Freedom Front support this item. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 01:13:44Item 17: Funding plan · 1 min 59 s

  Read what they said (253 words)

  Goeiemôre, Mevrou die Speaker. Ek hoop dit gaan goed met jou.

  Good morning, fellow councillors, and through you, Madam Speaker, thanks to the Mayor for his farewell speech. And they bring this item up today about the the funding plan. And I think it's the the very wrong time to bring up a fan funding plan one month before the end of the term. We know the city's finances are in dire straits, but to bring this item now, you cannot borrow yourself out of bankruptcy. We cannot

  Councillor

  Raadslid, hou net aan. Ons hou jou tyd.

  There's a councillor, Councillor Segha Komane. Councillor Komane, your hand is up.

  Thank you very much, Speaker. Good morning to you, greetings to everyone. It's to notify you that I have experienced a technical glitch, but I'm back now.

  Thank you so much.

  Thank you.

  Councillor Boer,

  kan jy maar aangaan, Raadslid?

  Mevrou die Speaker,

  the item itself is not a bad item. It addresses some of the issues that we need to address, but we have to leave this for a new term to finalize those refinancing of assets and short term borrowings, and so on, and so on. And the city's financial situation is of such a nature that we cannot negotiate preferred interest rates. We are still on a very bad spot. So, the Freedom Front is not going to approve this the funding plan over the medium term, and we're going to leave it for the new administration. Thank you very much.

• 27 Aug 2026 · 02:09:42Item 29: irregular expenditure motivation · 2 min 6 s

  Read what they said (319 words)

  Goeiemiddag Mevrou die Speaker.

  Um yes I'm also rising on item 29. It's a report that comes to council on a regular basis and yes, we I commend MPAC for trying to catch up on all those years of irregular and wasteful expenditure and cleaning up our books in that instance. As was said by the previous speaker um the information is so vague um

  that it is difficult to support this item. Um yes we have to write it off or try and recover and take disciplinary actions to the to the officials that were involved in awarding those contracts. Um and you might remember that I said in council a year or so ago especially on the attorney panel contract um that one of the attorneys sent said to me the City of Johannesburg has made him stinking rich um

  because he was part of the panel. And in those things there must be consequences for the officials that that were involved in the rotation strategy framework to allocate this panel. And it seems to me it's also a panel of friends of the City and they are getting money for doing absolutely nothing. Um Madam Speaker, it's hard to to support this item, on the other hand, it is going back to 2010, 2011 it's 15 years ago. Um I cannot see that we can recover anything on those on those amounts.

  Um I see on the recommendation there's a recommendation that the Group Legal and Contracts submit rotation strategy framework for the allocation of work to the panel of attorney. And I think, it says this report must be submitted to the committee within 30 days after adoption of this report by council. Um I think and this framework should come to council as well for approval because that that is an area where big money is lost in the City. Thank you Madam Speaker.

• 27 Aug 2026 · 00:32:16Item 32: Public Participation Policy · 1 min 45 s

  Read what they said (280 words)

  Goeiemôre, Mevrou die Speaker,

  um fellow councillors. Um I just want to say, Madam Speaker, um

  Ek weet nie wat is die Afrikaans vir 'n

  alderwoman

  nie. Ek hoop nie dis 'n ouvrou nie.

  Um but congratulations on your alderman womanship. Um but you are not very generous with me to to say to me next time I'll get one, because next time I will be 76 years old and I really hope not to be in this council when I'm 76 years. Um but uh I will serve the council as long as the Lord give me power to do so.

  Madam Speaker, I'm rising on item 32, the review of the Public Participation Policy. And I want to take the council back 32 years ago with the free the first free democratic election, where we said, "One man, one vote." And rightfully so, um every resident's got a vote, every citizen of this country has got a vote. And the Freedom Front in particular is promoting this. We we say,

  give the communities and give the individuals the self-determination on issues that belongs to them. So, the public participation for our residents in Johannesburg is of utmost importance. We do we don't only need their votes once in five years to vote for a specific political party, but we need their support on buying in in all the projects that the city does have. Because if the community does not buy in,

  and if our residents do not buy in, we will not have active citizenship. So we welcome this review of this policy, and communications of our residents is of the utmost importance. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 26 Aug 2026 · 06:32:246 · 1 min 36 s

  Read what they said (269 words)

  Haai, mevrou die Speaker, ek het eers gesê die agteros kom ook in die straal, in die kraal, maar nou wil ek ook sê ek wil ook my stuiwer in die armbeurs gooi, um. Dankie vir die geleentheid. Um, goeiemiddag weereens. Goeiemiddag meneer die Burgemeester,

  MMCs, fellow councillors. Um, I largely agree and I've been covered with most of the previous councillors that were speaking about this item. Um, and of course, the city is in such a dire strait financial position. Um, our residents are longing for stable electricity, a stable water supply, every form of support that we can get, um, we must accept. I mean, it's, it's not an massive amount of money, it's $3 million, um, together with our own funding of 6.5 million brings us up to closely

  R170 million. And we have to accept this and, and, and make, make sure that those funds are used, um, in a proper way, that every single cent of this, of this grant funding and our own contribution is, is, is delivered in, in, in, in, in proper, um, installations to generate solar power. Uh, we have to create the trust of those international organizations to, to be willing to help us and to say that we are a reliable

  partner and when we give a grant to the City of Johannesburg it is spent wisely and we as the Freedom Front support this grant and we will, uh, do proper oversight through the Section 79 EISD Committee to make sure that those funds are spent wisely as well. We support it. Thank you very much.

• 26 Aug 2026 · 01:51:36Items 1 and 2 · 4 min 4 s

  Read what they said (623 words)

  Goeie môre, Mevrou die Speaker. Ja, ses minute klink soos Kersfees. Ek het nog nooit so baie tyd gehad nie. Baie dankie.

  Good morning, Deputy Mayor, fellow councillors. And from the Freedom Front as well, we want to congratulate the newly elected Chairperson for Finance, Councillor Radebe, and we promise you we're going to make you work for your money for the next two months. You're not going to earn this money for free. But all the best for your appointment. Madam Speaker, I'm going to raise specifically on the May report, and I want to point out a few highlights as my previous colleague has already mentioned as well. I'm not going to repeat him,

  but the bottom line is on the May MFMA report, the city's year-to-date deficit was 18.3 million, and there was a budgeted surplus of 1.2 billion. And the bottom line there is, if on the operational side we've got an 18.3 million deficit, there is absolutely no money available for capital expenditure, and we see that in the reports. The CapEx spending in April was 46%, in May it was standing at 52%. So for 11 months, we spent 52% of our CapEx, so we need to spend 48% in one month. That is absolutely not possible,

  but there is no money to incur the CapEx spending. Even more concerning is the grant spending. We've received the grant funding, but we only spent 52% of that until the end of May. The money was received. It was used for other Peter to pay Paul, and this money needs to be paid back because we didn't spend it. That is a very big concern as well. There are a few highlights in this reports. The collection rate in May was 91.2%, and which is excellent, and I hope that the next months after that, it continue to be like that. Our billing was more than 100% of budget, so that was also very positive.

  But Madam Speaker, our debt impairment was standing at R10.1 billion for 11 months. The city's total salary bill is 21 billion, so 50% of our salary bill we write off as debt impairment. And I want to plead to the residents as well. If the city had only half of that 10 billion, we could have funded all our CapEx projects by ourselves, by our own cash flow. The residents must also take the responsibility to pay their bills so that the city can have money to spend on the capital expenditure. Madam Speaker, one very concerning figure out of this report is the status at Johannesburg Water.

  If you look on the report, their year-to-date revenue income was R1 billion below budget, but their bulk purchases was R392 million above budget. So we bought more water from Rand Water and we collected less money, which shows us only one thing. It's not throttling or all the reasons they're giving in the report. The reason is we are leaking water and there is illegal uses of water. And Johannesburg Water is a great concern at the moment where money is literally, physically running down the drain, and the city is losing big money because of that.

  Madam Speaker, I'm going to close off. We need to turn this city around, and we can only do it if our residents are paying their bills and that we can have cash flow to spend on our CapEx expenditure and to get the city working again. And it seems to me our residents have to wait until after 1st of November, and hopefully we'll have a government in place that's got the political will to make the city a world-class city again. Thank you very much.

• 30 Jul 2026 · 00:43:40Item 1: Annual Report · 3 min 10 s

  Read what they said (448 words)

  Goeiemôre, Vrou Speaker.

  Fellow councillors, good morning. I will address you mainly on item one on the financial report. And I want to start off with the Auditor-General's finding. And again, as in previous council sittings as well, we want to recommend the Joburg Market and Joburg Theatre for receiving clean audit reports. Well, you're setting an example for the rest of the entities to follow, thank you. What is, however,

  very much concerning is the qualified report that the core received. And looking at mainly what it is, there's mainly two items there involved. The one is the sundry debtors, although that figure appeared on the last year's financial report as well, so that could not have been the driver. The wasted expenditure there, however, the general expenses of 398 million rand, that should have been in 2023/2024,

  and it was recorded in the 2024/2025 financial year. That's just absolutely an administrative mistake, administrative inaccuracies that is still not farfetched to believe that the only cause for the delay in the financial statements is because they got a qualified report from the Auditor-General. And this is a real concern, because we have put the city at risk.

  Our bond trading was suspended by the JSE. Our credit rating agencies have put us on hold for a possible downgrade, so we create an enormous risk for the city because of this. And I think the administration really needs to make sure that we adhere to the AG's findings. There are a lot of repeated findings and that appear every single year. UIFW, yes, the total amount is down from

  12 billion to 3.6 billion because council wrote off 18 billion. There's a new unauthorized expenditure amounting to 9.1 billion, which was totally unnecessary if you corrected them in the adjustment budget. The same with irregular expenditure, the current year's figure is 3 billion, at least down from last year's 5.5 billion. Looking at the financial figures, and the financial figures do not lie, they tell us exactamente why is the city in such a desperate financial

  30 sekondes.

  Ag, Mevrou die Speaker, ek sal moet vinnig maak hier. We have to report a surplus of 1.6 billion. It's up from last year's 234 million. The own funding on Capex is already at 1.5 billion. So all of our surpluses go to funding Capex expenditure, and then we got no money to repair our debt, and that is why the city's financial position is in such a dire situation. I would have liked to be able to... Yeah, the financial figures are concerning and that is why

  Kan u sit, asseblief? U tyd is op.

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

• 22 Jul 2026 · 07:25:2927 to 33 · 2 min 31 s

  Read what they said (401 words)

  Goeiemiddag, Mevrou die Speaker. Um, terwyl hierdie raad nou so ywerig is om Afrikaans te leer vandag, um die Afrikaanse woord vir gogo is uh gogga.

  Madam Speaker, I'm rising on item 28, the quarterly report for JRA. Um, on paper, this report looks pretty well, and I think this department is trying their best with limited uh financial resources. Again, we see financial constraint, the the suppliers that were paid within 30 days was only 22% in March 2026, in instead of the the uh needed 100%. But when we read through this report,

  it looks all great on paper. It says on page 3, the mission: "We commit to provide quality roads that are accessible, safe, and liveable for our communities." Madam Speaker, this is not what our communities are seeing. Um, the report also says the traffic signals, 84.77% of technical faults repaired within 24 hours. And I don't know what is the definition of technical faults, but ask the residents in Region C,

  especially Hendrik Potgieter Road, um Voortrekker Road, um Ontdekkers Road, um most of those robots are working for one day and then for three weeks, a month, two months, they are just not working, or they are fixed one day and the next day they are broken again. I don't know if that is part of technical faults, but Madam Speaker, although the report is great and it says KPI achieved 72%, our residents are suffering. Our our roads are in in desperate need

  of of repair. Um, the potholes are just getting more and more, the the traffic lights not working are getting more and more. We are really in a critical situation. When we do inquiries, they say, "No, but Hendrik Potgieter Road is a provincial road. It has to be done by by by province, but province doesn't pay JRA, so JRA is not maintaining the signals." But what is strange, when you get onto Hendrik Potgieter Road into Mogale City, all the robots are working all the time. So, uh, I don't know where is the problem there.

  Madam Speaker, we need we need Our residents deserve much better. We we are losing uh cars, we are losing um tires. Residents are are involved in accidents and we really while it is winter time, we need to speed up the the maintenance on our roads. Thank you very much.

  Dankie.

• 22 Jul 2026 · 04:08:24Items 14-16 (Group Finance and GICT) · 2 min 39 s

  Read what they said (353 words)

  Goeiemiddag, Mevrou die Speaker. Goeiemiddag,

  fellow councillors. I'm rising on Item 14, the third quarter financial report for Group Finance. Madam Speaker, this report, although it's already four months old, it speaks about the dire situation of the city's finances. And I was very much encouraged this morning when this Council approved the in-committee items to start addressing

  illegality, which is so systemic of the city: corruption, bribery, stealing of money. And if this Council starts to set an example by keeping people accountable, and that there will be consequent management for those trespassings, then at least we can move to our residents and expect the same from them.

  Because this reports addresses the systemic problems that the city has got. My morality is based from the Bible, that everyone has got morality, but it seems to me in this city morality is not really there anymore. We look on the financial figures. On our prepayments, the prepaid electricity is only 60% of budget. Prepaid water is only 85% of budget, and that means only one thing:

  40% and 15% that is under budget is water that is being bypassed or electricity that is being illegally connected or non-vending on prepaids. That is the prepaid portion. On the debt portion, yes, our residents are under financial strain, but if 53% of our debt of the 73 billion rand consists of water debt, it is not only financial constraint, it is illegally water that is not being paid to the city.

  And that is why the city's finances are in such a dire position, because our residents are not paying for their services. Our collection rate

  U het nog sekondes,

  for quarter three was only sitting at 83%. It is going down and down. But even our billing performance was down from 99% in quarter one to 96% in March of this year. So our billing is also going down. So we really need a turnaround in the city and that will only be achieved by morality when everyone pays what is due and everyone pays for what he consumed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 22 Jul 2026 · 03:28:18Items 9-13 (EISD, City Power, Joburg Water, Pikitup) · 3 min 10 s

  Read what they said (458 words)

  Goeiemiddag Mevrou die Speaker. Um

  I'm rising on Item number 9 until 13. Um we only got three minutes to debate on those entities. Um and three minutes is much too little, but I'm looking forward to the next term where the Freedom Front will be back with at least five minutes speaking time. Uh Madam Speaker, all those entities, those service entities of the city, are facing all operational challenges, and it all comes back to cash flow.

  But those entities must also understand the cash flow problems of the city arises from the entities. Um and I'm going to speak quickly about Pikitup. Pikitup is normally not spoken about because it is a smallest one. Uh Pikitup is facing extreme uh operational challenges with labor unrest, um contractors that are not uh working, and so on. They're sitting with a vacancy rate of 65%. They've got a vacancy of 4,400

  unskilled employees. But because there's a moratorium on on appointing of staff members, they're using contractors and they pay their staff overtime, which is cost- costing them much more than in appointing the necessary staff members. Madam Speaker, all the entities are facing the same problems. Uh City Power especially, our previous CEO has resigned at the end of March at the end of the term, and hopefully in the new term with a new CEO we're going to see some improvement here.

  But the operational challenges in uh City Power are so big. Capex spending

  spending at the end of third quarter was only standing at 45%. Our infrastructure is falling apart, that we only spend not even 50% of our annual Capex budget, that we did spend R594 million on legal cost and in the body of the report it says that cost was incurred to get VAT refunds from SARS. Um our legal cost 594 is already more than our total Capex expenditure. It doesn't make sense.

  What the financial figures in City Power doesn't make sense in the best of time. They said the quarterly losses are down from 28% last year this time to 17% this year, which is a good indicator, that it doesn't reflect in the Rand or Cent figures, because our bulk purchases are still R380 million over budget, while our income is R40 million under budget and if your losses are less, how can your bulk purchases be more?

  30 seconds.

  It doesn't make sense. Um, and when one very worrying figure in City Power is on the prepaid vending performance. Alexandria was standing at 11%. Madam Speaker, 11% is vending on the prepaid. In Lenasia it was 19%. Our residents are stealing our electricity and then we don't have money to give them services. Is it

• 25 Jun 2026 · 07:40:16Item 67 · 1 min 56 s

  Read what they said (261 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm going to be quick. Item 67, it was a tragic incident where Mthokozisi Ntumba, a employee of the City of Tshwane, lost his life in 2021, and the proposal was to put a street name change of De Beer Street and to honor his name. Madam Speaker, the public comments resulted into 1,178 public inputs and of those inputs,

  657 were sort of neutral comments where they say, and it comes out of the report, the commentary on social media primarily focused on issues such as perceived wasteful expenditure, the need for cleaner streets, fixing potholes and traffic lights, and a general call for improved service delivery. And they were suggesting that we rather spend our money on those primary issues than on changing the name of a street, and it is

  tragic that somebody has to lose his life in a protest action, but to listen to the positive comments of only 37% of the respondents and to say now we go ahead to change the name of the street is just not on. If we do this totally according to the democratic process, we must listen to the neutral comments and say rather spend our money to improve the lives of our residents, the ones that are still alive and not honor the dead

  in a tragic incident. So we are against this report and we cannot waste our money, although the report said it will cost JRA only 40,000 rand to change all the names. That is wishful thinking. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:37:3984 · 1 min 29 s

  Read what they said (203 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

  Uhm I'm mainly covered by the previous councillor, and I think this project is best described by the note that was made on the 9th of October 2019 by the then city manager, I've never met him, uhm Dr N. Lukwareni. He made a note on this report in 2019 and he says, EISD, I have been signing a number of these DBSA

  stroke biogas agreements without any action by the grant. Do you have an implementation plan? Can I get the milestones? That was a comment that was made seven years ago and I think the same comment we can ask today. Can we have milestones? Is there any action plan on the ground? Because we're asking for another R50 billion, ag R50 million, uhm, but this item has been on the agenda

  of Council for the past five years, and it comes on and it goes off. It has been discussed on EISD, but it seems to me there's absolutely no movement from the ground. And the project itself is a necessary project, we fully support it, but the way that it doesn't get going is really, we need answers on that. Uhm thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:16:5179, 80 and 81 · 2 min 50 s

  Read what they said (399 words)

  Goeiemôre.

  Madam Speaker, uhm good morning fellow councillors. I think let's stay away from politics and really focus on the serious business of the day. I'm only going to speak about item number 81, the third, the March section 71 report. Madam Speaker yesterday in council we approved the turnaround framework.

  And a turnaround framework can only work if we can have reliable financial information and unfortunately these section 71 reports, the figures are so one wonders where are they coming from. Uhm and there's no wonder that National Treasury is asking the city questions about their finances, because if I was sitting in National Treasury, I would have had no idea what's going on in the city's finances. Uhm

  The report says in the March report the total cash inflows was 15.4 billion and the total cash outflow was 12.9 billion. And then the comment says the cash outflows were more than the cash inflows resulting in a negative movement in our cash balances, although the cash balances improved by 2.4 billion. And then it says the inflows for the month of February includes cash collection of 4.9 billion, which should actually be

  March. So, the standard of reporting, especially in a Section 71 report, is to say the least, is shocking. Uhm, Madam Speaker, and these are the figures that are going to be used to base our turnaround framework. It's not going to work. Another example, the collection rate. Uh for March, the collection rate was 96.5%. In April, it dropped down to 81%. Madam Speaker, it's not possible in a city like Johannesburg that the

  collection rate drops from 96% to 81%, a drop of 15% in one single month. Uhm so the figures that we have in front of us are really not reliable figures.

  50 sekondes.

  And then the two items that we see out of this report which is positive is the sinking fund is 1.6 billion, enough money to settle our bonds at the end of June. Uhm the R3 billion short-term facility was repaid on the 20th of March, that's also a positive figure and that was only because we received R6.8 billion in grant funding in March which is going to bite us again in April. Madam Speaker, to close off,

  I think the residents of the city should vote for the Vryheidsfront Plus.

  Ons tyd is nou. Dankie.

• 24 Jun 2026 · 07:01:1482 · 1 min 51 s

  Read what they said (305 words)

  Uh good afternoon, Madam Speaker, again. Um I'm rising on item 82, the Debt Relief uh Program. Um we are more than halfway through this program. I think it ends at the end of October or the end of November of this year. Um so far, 14, 11,400 applications have been received of which 8,300 have been already been approved. Um and I want to recommend uh the officials and the CFO and his team for really, really addressing

  those applications and and and and work with them. Um the proposed amend uh addendums, uh there there are three of uh six of them, and they are really there to to make it easier uh for our residents to to qualify and to sign the acknowledgments of debt without having to put down a 20 or a 50% down payment, and that is a real, that was a real big hurdle for our residents to come forward

  and say, "All right, I'm still having a debt of 500,000 after the 50% write-off, but I don't have a down payment amount." But um so the the proposed addendums are really there to to make it easier for our residents, but as the previous speaker has said as well, we need to monitor this and it must not be a blanket write-off. Uh the residents must also know that they have to adhere to the to the AODs and and and

  and also fulfill fulfill their obligations towards the city. Uh all in all, it is a it is a beautiful program, but it's it's maybe a little bit disappointing that only 11,400 applications have been received in 6 months time, and I think we must really communicate with our residents that they must apply for this debt write-off. Thank you, Madam Speaker, we support the item.

• 24 Jun 2026 · 05:00:3970 · 30 s

  Read what they said (104 words)

  Thank you, councillor. Uh ANC, Councillor Madiba. I've noted you. I've noted you. Councillor Madiba.

  Good afternoon, Madam Speaker. Um I just want to agree with Councillor Bittkau as well. Um I know the the urgency on these reports. Um I haven't had the time to to go through those reports in detail. I was hoping that they were going to serve tomorrow. But in the light of the fact that they didn't serve on Section 79 and that I didn't have time to speak on them, I'm going to be with- withdrawing my speeches on items 70 and 72. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 24 Jun 2026 · 02:59:2366 · 3 min 12 s

  Read what they said (443 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker. Um,

  I think to summarize this document, um item number 66, I'm going to read 3.1. It's called the systemic crisis loop. And I think this phrase should be on the desk of every single councillor, um employee of the city, MMC, Mayor, whatever they are called. Um it says, the loop: Billing weakness reduces revenue. Revenue decline produces-]

  liquidity stress. Liquidity stress defers maintenance. Deferred maintenance increases infrastructure failure. Infrastructure failure erodes public trust. Declining public trust weakens payment culture. And weak payment culture further reduces revenue. Madam Speaker, this is what this document is all about. Um

  and the document itself is a lovely document. If, well again,

  papier is geduldig.

  If we can implement this strategy, that will for sure result into a turnaround of the city's financial situation. But not only this. We are missing two very serious points. The first point is the culture of non-payment. As long as we got a culture of non-payment, especially again Region D and Region G, that culture has to be broken.

  Our resident needs to know Rand Water is not supplying the city with water for free. Eskom is not supplying electricity to the city for free. Our workers are not working for free. SAMWU is standing outside again wanting the implementation of the PFA agreement, and we want to look after our workers,

  but we need cash for that. We need money for that. We need our residents to start paying for their accounts so that we can pay our workers. And this culture has to be broken one way or the other. And maybe we must we must say to SAMWU for every 5% uh uh increase in a collection rate in Region D and Region G, you will get a certain uh uh extra amount on the PFA. The second pillar, Madam Speaker, that we need to break is the system systemic corruption, especially in City Power.

  In City Power, between the contractors, employees, and even management of the different regions, the bribery there is so ongoing, uh our residents are suffering from meters that are taken away, and the next day they get a phone call of being offered a certain amount to replace the meters again. Our residents are sick and tired of systemic corruption, and those two pillars need to be incorporated into this document to really make it a wonderful document. But Madam Speaker, closing off, this document is really the best document that we've seen in this council term the last 5 years.

  And yes, we have got to go full out and implement it. Thank you very much.

• 24 Jun 2026 · 02:21:1362 · 2 min 51 s

  Read what they said (398 words)

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

  Let's carry on with the business of the day. I'm rising on item 62, the strategy on the prevention and reduction of UIFW. Madam Speaker, in Afrikaans we've got a saying that says,

  papier is geduldig.

  Paper is patient. We can have the best strategy in the world, but if implementation is not there, we're going to get nowhere. And if we look in this amended strategy that came from 2021, and it was the adjustment with the National Treasury requirements 111, the document is good on itself. But the document also tells us that the amount of UIFWs in the city has increased dramatically over the last few years.

  And there's a very simple reason for that, and that is called adjustment budget. Madam Speaker, allow me to give the definition in the MFMA about unauthorized expenditure. And it says here, I'm reading from the law, "In relation to a municipality, means any expenditure incurred by a municipality otherwise than in accordance with section 15 or 11, and includes overspending of the total amount appropriated

  in the municipality's approved budget." So anything that we overspend which was not in the budget is called unauthorized expenditure. And those things can be regulated. And 90% of our UIFW in the city is unauthorized expenditure. And section 32(2)(a) says, "A municipality must recover unauthorized, irregular, or fruitless expenditure from the person liable

  for that expenditure unless the expenditure in the case of unauthorized expenditure is authorized in an adjustment budget." So Madam Speaker, the adjustment budget is there to say we have budgeted for R1,000 to pay to Eskom at the beginning of the year. And when we come to the mid-term, half of the year, we see we've actually spent already R900 to pay to Eskom. We're going to be short on the budget.

  And then we take the adjustment budget and we say, no, we are probably going to pay Eskom R1,800 instead of the original R1,000. And therefore, we adjust the budget by R800 to authorize this overspending. And Madam Speaker, this is what we need to do. We can have a strategy that is wonderful, but if we do not implement the measures to prevent this expenditure, the strategy on itself is useless. What we are going to support the strategy, that we are going to implement it. Thank you very much.

• 24 Jun 2026 · 01:21:4861 · 5 min 55 s

  Read what they said (719 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker.

  Councillor, kan jy tog net miskien die mic langs aan jou, okay, daar's hy, daar's hy.

  Madam Speaker, you'll be surprised I've got a shop steward voice as well, but I'd rather not use it. Um, so

  Councillor Boer, can you just hold on? I don't know what the point of order on you is from Councillor Christians. Councillor Christians, he hasn't even started. Councillor Boer hasn't started and you're calling a point of order on him. No. Councillor Smit, I'm not certain, or Councillor Masera, I'm not certain what's happening with the caucus. Yeah, but Councillor Faeeza. No, no, no. Councillor, I have asked Councillor Christians, but now you're all screaming. You're all screaming. No, no, so I'm not going to allow Councillor Christians. Amen, I'm not allowing him.

  Councillor Boer, kan jy opstaan, asseblief?

  I can run it accordingly, but if I ask Christians to get up and speak and Faeeza, you, Councillor Boer,

  gaan aan, asseblief.

  Dankie, Madam Speaker.

  Um, I'm speaking on Item 61, the write-off of UIFW expenses. Um, these reports are coming to council on a quite regular basis and, Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the good work that MPAC is doing in this regard. We need to regularise these expenses and a lot of those expenses are going back to 2011, 2012. It is 16 years ago. Um, the people responsible for these expenses

  Raadslid Boer, ek hou jou tyd. Jy't twee minute en 20 sekondes oor. Ek hou jou tyd vas.

  Councillor Christians. I don't know where the disrespect comes from. Councillor Christians.

  Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, I have had my hand up for and you allowed three other speakers to speak before me. Speaker, I had my hand up when Councillor Da Rocha and you were having an argument. I was rising in terms of Rule 98(2), where you were procedurally flawed in the way you handled the debate. You cannot close the debate. The debate was supposed to be closed by the proposer. He's supposed to have a right to reply and you did not allow that. That's what I was raising my hand for, Speaker. Thank you.

  Councillors, Councillor Christians, it's not a motion, it was a debate. I've got, I've got, aai. There's a thing that I learnt in school, they told me we can all sing together, but we can't all talk together. So if we all talk together, then we don't understand each other because then it becomes gibberish. I am sitting next to people that are advising me. Councillor Faeeza, there's something that I'm going, I don't know how I'm going to deal with you, but I'm not sure today what's happening with you. Councillor Christians, we have closed on it and when I closed on it, Councillor Meyers actually did this to me. Councillor Meyers did this to me. Councillor Meyers did this to me. Councillor Meyers showed me thumbs up and he's now telling you he did show me thumbs up. So I'm not sure why everybody's angry, but the person of the debate gave me thumbs up. Thank you.

  Councillor Boer, twee minute en 20 sekondes.

  Dankie, Mevrou die Speaker.

  It's a cut-up, cut-off speech this time, but I will try and carry on where I left off. MPAC is doing great work in regularising those UIFW expenses, but they really, they cannot request from council to allow a write-off of 521 million rand of a contract of Piotrans where Supply Chain Management Regulation 36 was not followed, that is a deviation, and just saying that it was recommended to the accounting officer for further action. Before we can consider to write off these amounts, we really need what is the consequence management in these regards. The same with the contract to Sizwe Africa IT. Um, apparently the qualifications and the required documents were not attached in the bidding document and it was referred to the disciplinary board. Um, that's all good and well, but we need to know what is the consequence management, what happened to those people granting these contracts without the necessary documents. In principle, we are for to regularise all these UIFW expenses, but we are not going to be a blanket rubber stamp to just writing off without consequences. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 28 May 2026 · 05:54:02Item 2 · 17 s

  Read what they said (69 words)

  Middag Mevrou die Speaker. Ja nee wat, ek ek wil huistoe gaan, maar ek wil net vir jou sê jou keuse van daai potte is darm baie beter um, as ek nou dink daai potte sou blou gewees het of rooi of geel of

  any other colour of the rainbow, but this green is really suitable. Well, I'm not going to speak on this item. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 28 May 2026 · 04:25:21Item 1 · 11 s

  Read what they said (36 words)

  Goeiemiddag, Speaker. Ek het net gewonder,

  in this current budget, we're still working on the old budget at least, is there still provision for lunch in this budget, or is it already used up? Thank you.

• 28 May 2026 · 03:57:47Item 3 · 6 min 7 s

  Read what they said (813 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker. Before I get to the actual OPEX and CAPEX budget figures, through you Madam Speaker to the Mayor, the Mayor promises to settle creditors within 30 days. With a budgeted surplus of 2 billion, and from that you have to spend about 300 million on CAPEX, you're left with 1.7 billion. Your backlog on creditors amounts to plus-minus 20 billion.

  How on earth are you going to pay suppliers in 30 days? It's not able. Secondly, Mr. Mayor and other political parties as well, ring-fencing is the word of the month. Every party talks about ring-fencing. Ring-fencing is this miracle that is going to save Joburg Water and City Power. No, it is not, Madam Speaker. The budgeted surplus for Johannesburg Water is 991 million rand in this budget. For City Power,

  it is 725 million rand surpluses. That is before capital expenditure of 1.9 billion for Joburg Water, so they are already short of a billion, and City Power 2.3 billion, they got 720 million, so they are short by 1.6 billion. So both those entities are not needed to be ring-fenced because they are not generating income to sustain themselves. So ring-fencing is not going to make any difference to any of those entities.

  Madam Speaker, I'm talking about operational budget income. Despite a tariff increase of 12.5% in water, our budgeted increase in revenue is only 5.2%. So in effect, we are budgeting to sell 7% less water to our residents than in the previous year. I really don't know how we got to those figures. We are easy to budget for fines and penalties of 183 million rand.

  Before the post office collapsed, and before our speeding contract lapsed, we used to collect a billion

  generated here on speeding fines and penalties. We are happy to accept 183 million, write off another 800 million. Madam Speaker, the figures that you were used for non-revenues those figures were used, those were the actual figures in June last year, non-revenue water 44.7%, electricity losses 27%. On the last quarterly reports of those entities,

  the non-revenue water increased to 48.7%, another 10% increase, and on electricity it jumped to 32% from 27%, that is a 20% increase. So our losses are just getting bigger, bigger, and bigger. On the expenses side, Madam Speaker, while we budgeted for 5.2% extra income on water, we only budget to pay Rand Water 3.9% extra, despite the tariff increase of 12.5%.

  So we budget to buy 8% less water from Johannesburg Water. I don't know how we got to that. Madam Speaker, we are happy to budget for another R14 billion of cost of debt impairment and other losses, and those other losses are only on water, that is not electricity. We are happy to increase those provisions of 14.6% and 11%, while JRA, which we need the cash to fix our potholes, to fix our

  robots, only gets an increase of 3.6%, from 1.7 billion to 1.8 billion. Madam Speaker, our collection rate budgeted is 86%. For electricity, it's standing at 93.8%. For water, 73.5%. And then we blame the economic conditions why our collection rate on water is so much less than on electricity. Do the people that use electricity

  are in a better economic situation than the people that use water? No, Madam Speaker, we are looking for excuses. I always thought a mafia is only an organization that exists in Italy. No, Madam Speaker, it exists in Johannesburg. We've got tender mafia, we've got building mafia, we've got water mafia. Our residents in Region D and Region G are paying for water, but not to the city. They are paying to lords that are

  collecting water and electricity money from them, and we are not addressing those problems at all. We just accept our losses. I'm moving over to capital expenditure, Madam Speaker. Although the MMC for Finance admits that we've got a R220 billion backlog in infrastructure, our budget for 26/27 increased by a mere R70 million, from 8.7 last year to 8.77 this year. And then not even talk about

  the next year, where we are budgeting for a loss of, ag, only capital expenditure of 8 billion, a decrease of another R800 million. Madam Speaker, JRA's CapEx budget reduced from 915 to 570, a 37% decrease, while the city is full of potholes. And then our loan funding, Madam Speaker, this budget is not funded at all, but despite that, we are prepared to borrow R2.3 billion from a German company.

  Madam Speaker, in the Insolvency Act, there is a stipulation what is called an act of insolvency, and that means if you borrow money knowing that you are not able to repay it, you are personal liable for this debt. And that is what is happening in this city. We are incurring debt by

• 28 May 2026 · 02:09:48Item 3: debate on the budget speech · 5 min 52 s

  Read what they said (894 words)

  Môre, Mevrou die Speaker. Um voor ek begin wil ek net vir jou sê baie, baie dankie vir hierdie pragtige groen potte wat hier buite die chambers staan. Um dis 'n belofte van dinge wat gaan gebeur in hierdie raadsaal. Uh na na Desember hierdie jaar gaan hierdie chamber ook baie, baie groener wees en ek praat nie van ActionSA groen of van PA groen nie, ek praat van Vryheidsfront Plus groen. Baie dankie.

  But Madam Speaker, um let's get to serious business, um all protocols observed. This budget speech yesterday was delivered in a background of serious financial constraints in our city. We've got the JSE suspension of our financial instruments because of the delay in the financial statements. We are facing a possible downgrade again from Moody's.

  We are seeing uh financial institutions that are not prepared to give the city loans, I'm talking about the French bank. And we're seeing the negative publicity in the letters from the Minister of Finance to the city and to Eskom. In this background, this budget speech was delivered. And I want to congratulate the MMC because her budget speech was really inspirational and I thought we're going to see something happening today. Um

  I saw the CFO's with a big smile on his face because you were addressing all the right things. You acknowledged the R220 billion backlog in infrastructure. You acknowledged that we need to increase the collection rate to make the city sustainable. You acknowledged that we have to do something about non-revenue water, non-revenue electricity, that we have to do something about that.

  You acknowledged that residents can't expect to have um services and capital projects if they do not pay for the services. So yes, Madam MMC, your speech was great. But when I got home last night, I saw the printed budget and I thought by myself and I used the words that the Mayor's children would have used, the word eish. Eish! Because the budget speech

  and the printed budget did not even talk to each other. And then I came to the conclusion, we're sitting with the same budget and we will see the same result. The MMC said today's budget will be tomorrow's results. No, MMC, today's budget will be tomorrow's crisis. And that is the legacy that we are going to leave for our children. And how is that legacy looking like? I'm only going to use one example.

  If we think 190, 200 years ago, and I'm using 190 because by that time our Voortrekkers were also already in Gauteng and in the Free State and all over, I always get that picture of an idyllic South Africa. Clean air, sparkling rivers, fountains. Our forefathers did not had water in the taps. They drank out of rivers, they drank out of fountains, clear water, it was idyllic.

  Can I take it back? 50 years ago, I was a small boy, and I used to swim in the Jukskei River. We swam every day, nice, clean water. And Madam Speaker, where are we today? All our rivers in Gauteng are so polluted. In Johannesburg, there is no river where the E. coli count is less than 2.4 million units, and that is the highest measurable score.

  We are dumping millions of liters of sewage into our rivers every day. And then we come with a budget and we ask for a 11% tariff increase. Madam Speaker, this is not on. We say that this budget is funded. This budget is not funded. We budget for a surplus of 2 billion, together with capital grants of 5 billion, we've got 7 billion available.

  Madam Speaker, 7 billion, our CAPEX budget is 8.8, so we are already R1.8 billion short. That will be made up from the German loan. But we do not have money to repay our existing loans. We do not have money to pay Eskom his debts. We do not have money to pay contractors that have suspended their works and owing them 2.5 billion. Where is that money coming from?

  Madam Speaker, the Freedom Front's got a solution. We need a CM budget. No, Madam Speaker, not a City Manager budget, a CM budget, and remember these words: Consolidation and Maintenance. We need to consolidate the city's finances, cancel all unnecessary OPEX and CAPEX expenditure which do not generate income or is for the benefit of our residents.

  We have to finish unfinished projects that are standing still because you do not pay contractors. I'm referring to the Brixton Multipurpose Center, I'm referring to the Orange Farm Community Center. They are standing still for years because there's no money. I'm talking about the Metro building that is a wasteful expenditure because we can reduce our cost considerably to just upgrade the Metro building.

  We need massive maintenance to repair our roads, sewage, water, electricity infrastructure, and then we can consolidate. We can end up the year with a surplus of round about R10 billion to make funds available to settle our debts and also to have cash in the bank so that we can fund our own CAPEX projects. And then we set the sound foundations for the future years to come. And that is the only solution, Madam Speaker, we have to consolidate and we have to maintain. Thank you very much.

Spoke on

• 30 Sept 2026 · 01:12:47Item 17: Funding plan for medium-term capital budget 2026/27–2028/29
• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:04:20Item 27: Extension of general valuation roll 2023 to June 2028
• 30 Sept 2026 · 03:30:48Item 1: C40 / UN-Habitat Urban Planning Accelerator and Thriving Food Systems Accelerator
• 30 Sept 2026 · 04:02:35Item 2: Draft Clean Air Zone Policy - councillor debate
• 30 Sept 2026 · 05:21:03Item 8: Revised Group Employment Equity Policy Framework
• 30 Sept 2026 · 06:42:18Item 14: Background paper on financial sustainability, oversight priorities
• 30 Sept 2026 · 07:20:11Items 18 and 19: In-year financial reports (June and July 2026), first speakers
• 30 Sept 2026 · 09:44:54Motion 1: FF+ opposes renaming an existing street name
• 27 Aug 2026 · 00:27:50Item 32: Public Participation Policy review
• 27 Aug 2026 · 02:05:44Item 29: Irregular expenditure recovery and regularisation (August 2026)
• 26 Aug 2026 · 01:45:13Items 1 and 2: ACDP and FF+ on the April and May MFMA reports
• 26 Aug 2026 · 06:32:09Item 6: FF+ support, MMC response and agreement
• 30 Jul 2026 · 00:43:35FF+ on financial findings
• 22 Jul 2026 · 03:17:22Procedural error in dates for items 9-13
• 22 Jul 2026 · 03:25:17DA, FF+ and UDM on EISD cluster
• 22 Jul 2026 · 03:59:57ActionSA, DA and FF+ on Group Finance report
• 22 Jul 2026 · 07:17:01Items 27-33: Transport, JRA, Metrobus and MTC
• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:16:41FF+ on Section 71 reports
• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:34:13Item 84: Biogas pilot project budget shortfall transfer to DBSA
• 25 Jun 2026 · 07:39:44Item 67: renaming De Beer Street to Mthokozisi Ntumba Street, and division
• 24 Jun 2026 · 01:03:52Urgent debate on Eskom substation cut-offs: speakers list
• 24 Jun 2026 · 01:10:29Eskom debate: Cllr Boer (FF+)
• 24 Jun 2026 · 01:21:44Item 61: Cllr Boer (FF+) and procedural dispute
• 24 Jun 2026 · 02:20:39Item 62: UIFW prevention strategy, Cllr Boer (FF+)
• 24 Jun 2026 · 02:59:12Item 66: Financial Turnaround Framework – FF+ and ACDP
• 24 Jun 2026 · 05:00:25Item 70: City Power Trading Reform Strategy – FF+, ACDP, ActionSA
• 24 Jun 2026 · 05:47:45Item 72: Johannesburg Water performance improvement action plan v2
• 24 Jun 2026 · 06:57:19Item 82: addendum to Debt Relief Programme Phase 4
• 28 May 2026 · 02:09:44FF Plus Cllr Boer proposes a Consolidation and Maintenance budget
• 28 May 2026 · 03:57:35Item 3: Cllr Boer (FF Plus)
• 28 May 2026 · 04:25:05Item 1: IDP review and business plans introduced
• 28 May 2026 · 05:52:09Resumption and Item 2: Service Delivery Budget and Implementation Plan

Promises

• 26 Aug 2026 · 06:33:42The FF+ will oversee spending of the GEF grant through the Section 79 EISD Committee.