Joburg will need external financial support to help it arrest its deepening fiscal crisis, but any intervention by national government should be tied to strict conditions aimed at forcing a turnaround in the city’s finances, says the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE).The independent policy research and development think-tank says Joburg is too important to South Africa’s economy to be allowed to deteriorate unchecked. But an unconditional bailout would risk preserving the financial practices that have contributed to the crisis and ultimately leave taxpayers facing a larger bill. Key parastatals in the country have shown how addictive bailouts from the provincial and national governments can become.The warning comes as the city prepares for local government elections on November 4 and after a dispute with Eskom over billions of rand in unpaid electricity debt highlighted the extent of its financial strain. The utility had threatened to restrict electricity supplies to parts of Joburg before the dispute was resolved through a payment of R5.25bn of its remaining overdue electricity debt last week. The CDE says any national or provincial intervention should be conditional on a credible medium-term financial plan, realistic revenue assumptions, enforceable collection targets and independent oversight of major contracts and procurement.The November election will determine the political leadership responsible for implementing those measures. Whoever takes control of Joburg will inherit a municipality whose spending commitments have increasingly diverged from its ability to collect revenue.At the centre of the crisis is a widening gap between revenue billed by the municipality and cash actually collected. Gross customer debt reached almost R72bn in the 2024/25 financial year, compared with about R15bn a decade earlier, according to the CDE. The increase of almost 17% a year has substantially outpaced inflation and the roughly 1% average annual expansion of Joburg’s economy over the same period.The business sector has pledged resources to support government efforts to address Joburg's deepening financial and governance crisis, finance minister Enoch Godongwana said @BDliveSA pic.twitter.com/CKwjp130Uj— Thando Maeko (@HelloThando) August 21, 2026