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I have noted with great concern the comments and misinformed criticism made against the City of Johannesburg by certain councillors around contractors not being paid in Eldorado Park.

I want to confirm to our residents that the City of Johannesburg’s Multi-Party Government is committed to the growth and development of Joburg, which is why the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is in the process of implementing a R26 million project on behalf of the Transport Department in Eldorado Park.

The JDA implements projects for the various City departments and relies heavily on payments from these departments to proceed smoothly with the implementation. Unfortunately, over the past three weeks under the unlawfully elected ANC coalition government, the JDA was unable to pay contractors in Eldorado Park due to a lack of cash flow. 

The lack of cash flow emanated from a moratorium by the previous unlawful MMC for Transport, Cllr Sauls, stopping all procurement processes in the department. This hindered payments to the JDA from the Transport Department, resulting in the non-payment to contractors in Eldorado Park.

The outstanding invoices from Transport projects amount to R24.9 million. These are invoices based on work completed during the month of September 2022, which were to be settled before end of October 2022. But due to the moratorium by Cllr Sauls, this was not possible.

The Joburg Multi-Party Government will see to it that the financial stability of the City, which has been greatly impacted over the past couple of weeks, is restored. We will see to it that services to the residents of this beautiful City are delivered with quality and that we achieve our goal of a well-run Joburg. 

Issued by City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Development Planning Belinda Echeozonjoku