The City of Johannesburg is facing a significant dilemma as the National Treasury temporarily freezes a large portion of its funding, forcing the municipality to reassess its financial strategy amid increasing service delivery challenges.
The City of Johannesburg is among 69 municipalities across the country that the National Treasury revealed it has temporarily withheld R13.5 billion in equitable share allocations from. Joburg alone has had R3.6 billion frozen.
The announcement was made by National Treasury Deputy Director-General for Intergovernmental Relations Ogalaletseng Gaarekwe during a media briefing on Wednesday.
The decision follows the Treasury's announcement on Tuesday that it had partially withheld the municipalities' July 2026 equitable share transfers due to continued non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and related regulations.
The intervention forms part of efforts to enforce fiscal discipline, improve accountability and address persistent financial mismanagement.
