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ActionSA slams ANC-EFF Joburg coalition for wanting to approve R2bn loan they previously rejected

Sisanda Mbolekwa Politics reporter
The Johannesburg city council is expected to hold a council meeting on Thursday where the R2bn DBSA loan motion will be deliberated. File photo.
The Johannesburg city council is expected to hold a council meeting on Thursday where the R2bn DBSA loan motion will be deliberated. File photo.
Image: VELI NHLAPO

ActionSA has slammed the ANC-EFF coalition government in Johannesburg for seeking to approve a R2bn Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)  loan it had previously rejected from the opposition benches.

Last year the DA-led multiparty coalition twice failed to convince councillors to approve the loan, which would have been used to improve the city’s liquidity position.

ActionSA Joburg caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni said the move by the ANC-EFF coalition is hypocrisy and exposes the extent to which the government of local unity coalition would compromise the best interests of residents for political expediency.

“On several occasions over this past year, the ANC, EFF and coalition partners attempted to block the approval of the R2bn DBSA loan agreement while the multiparty coalition, which included ActionSA, was in government.

“During their time in the opposition benches, the ANC and EFF voted against the loan while Colleen Makhubele deferred a vote on the loan from December to January when she postponed a council programming committee meeting,” said Ngobeni.

If the loan was not good for the city in December, what makes it good this week?
ActionSA Joburg caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni

The ActionSA caucus leader claimed the R2bn loan would have formed part of the city’s funding plan for the medium-term capital budget the council approved in May 2022 and was intended to strengthen service delivery.

“This demonstrates the lengths to which the ANC-EFF coalition was willing to go to score political points at the expense of service delivery. If the loan was not good for the city in December, what makes it good this week?” Ngobeni asked.

However, finance MMC Dada Morero believes this is not the case and defended his government’s conclusion to again bring up the loan.

“The DA was consistent that the city has no financial crisis and we felt there’s no need to burden the city with high interest repayments of the loan when they claim to have money.

“It’s only at the point of us taking office that we realised the city is in a dire financial standing and only had R400m in its bank account, which is information the DA has been hiding from the people of Joburg,” said Morero.

Ngobeni said on top of delays in approval of the loan, there were only four months remaining before the end of the city’s financial year, adding the city would not be able to repay the loan before the end of the financial year, as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act.

Despite criticism from the opposition, Morero remained confident that the “government of local unity” coalition has the support of 140 councillors and the report would go through.

The city is expected to hold a council meeting on Thursday where, among other items the R2bn loan motion will be deliberated.

TimesLIVE


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