By: Staff Reporter
Staff at Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and scores of unpaid service providers have occupied the office of the city manager demanding to be paid.
Africa News Global understands that the agency has not paid its staff and service providers for several months. The JDA’s mandate is to manage and facilitate infrastructure developments efficiently “and innovatively to build an equitable, sustainable and resilient city”
According to sources, JDA’s woes are linked to the ongoing financial crisis engulfing the city. In September Africa News Global reported that despite collecting billions in municipal rates revenue, and just months after receiving billions of rands in grants from the National Treasury, all three DA-run Gauteng metros, Joburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni were on the brink of financial collapse.
Sources said the DA could not blame any of its coalition partners since all finance portfolios in the three metros are in the hands of its members of the mayoral committee (MMCs).
Sources attributed the imminent bankruptcy facing the three metros purely to maladministration and bad financial management by the DA. In Joburg, the city has not been able to pay service providers since July as a result of the dire financial crisis it faces. Insiders have told Africa News Global that the financial situation was dire mostly due to City Power budgeting model. The sources said this was aggravated by the DA’s rejection of an advice from the City’s Treasury Department to rebase budgets.
Sources added that to urgently address the crisis, a turnaround strategy was needed to address entities of the city including City Power, Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), Johannesburg Housing Company (JOSHCO), Metrobus, and Johannesburg Property Company (JPC). “It’s their funding model that is highly problematic,” said the source.
