City of Joburg to raise R3.2bn by selling its vacant land

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero delivered his State of the City Address on Wednesday, making promises to fix the municipality's finances.

Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has announced that the struggling municipality will sell its vacant valued at R3.2 billion as it seeks to stabilise its finances.

Delivering his last State of the City Address before the local government elections in November, Morero said as part of its immediate steps to stabilise its finances, the city will dispose of its non-strategic assets.

“This will include the sale of the vacant land portion of our debtor’s book. The vacant land debtors’ book is currently valued at R3.2bn,” he stated.

Addressing residents on Wednesday at the St. Mary’s Cathedral in the Desmond Tutu Precinct in downtown Johannesburg, the mayor said the ANC-led government of local unity (GLU) inherited a broke city when it took over in 2019 from a DA-led coalition.