ActionSA leader and Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, says Dada Morero’s R3.8 billion loan announced during the State of the City Address (SOCA) will cripple the city.
ActionSA has come out strongly against a proposed R3.8 billion loan from German state development bank KfW, which the ANC-led coalition is seeking council approval to secure for City Power. The party's Joburg mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, says the deal will deepen the city's already dire financial crisis rather than resolve it.
The loan, valued at €200 million, would bind Johannesburg to a 15-year repayment plan, with funds earmarked for City Power's electrical infrastructure across the 2025/26 to 2027/28 financial years. Mayor Dada Morero revealed the arrangement at his State of the City Address earlier this month, saying the city and City Power were currently finalising the contract with KfW and expected the funds to be disbursed before the end of June 2026.
But ActionSA is having none of it. Mashaba described the move as a "superficial and frenzied attempt to repair the mismanagement of the City of Joburg's finances," saying it "will not improve electricity supply" but instead "entangle the residents in an unaffordable loan agreement over a period of 15 years."
