The City of Johannesburg has tabled a massive R97.1-billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year, positioning infrastructure renewal, mobility, and inner-city regeneration as its core pillars.

Presented by Finance MMC Loyiso Masuku, the fiscal framework promises to modernise the city's transport networks and address severe service backlogs.

However, the plan has met fierce resistance from opposition parties, who have rejected it as an unaffordable burden on struggling residents.

The 2026/27 budget splits its transport and infrastructure funding into two distinct funding streams to protect existing public assets and stimulate commercial growth, with R1.8-billion allocated to maintaining and upgrading existing assets, with a focus on weather resilience.

The city allocated R570-million toward targeted expansions, including road resurfacing, upgrading gravel roads, improving stormwater infrastructure, and expanding the integrated public transport network, including the bus rapid transport system.

The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) will lead the city's urban regeneration efforts. The city has earmarked 60% of its total capital investment for historically marginalised areas and underserved communities.

The budget identifies a pipeline of inner-city projects, including the Inner-City Eastern Gateway, High Court Precinct, Partnership Fund, Walkable Network, Joburg Art Gallery, and Jack Mincer Taxi Facility. It also includes broader public environment upgrades and precinct revitalisation initiatives.

Through these projects, the JDA aims to implement a precinct-based approach that combines public environment upgrades with economic activation to make the urban core safer and more attractive for commercial investment.

OPPOSITION BACKLASH

The budget has faced severe criticism from opposition parties, with the DA and ActionSA outright rejecting the framework.

DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille criticised the budget, labelling it "unfunded" and "unlawful".

Zille argued that the operating budget iwas 10% larger than the previous year's version, which she said had already proven to be unaffordable for the municipality.

She highlighted that Johannesburg residents would face 12.5% more in costs for water, 11% more for sanitation, 8.6% more for electricity and 6.2% more for refuse collection.

"It’s not so much that the ANC thinks money grows on trees. Rather, it thinks money can simply be squeezed from the pockets of residents – even in the middle of a devastating cost-of-living crisis," Zille stated.

She further argued that the R8-billion budget increase was entirely consumed by day-to-day operational costs such as salaries, rather than expanding the capital budget needed to fix basic services like substations, water pipes, and traffic lights.

ActionSA Joburg Councillor Mpumi Edward echoed these concerns, stating that the budget simply “recycles empty infrastructure promises” while residents continued to suffer from chronic water interruptions and sewer spillages.

Edward warned against the city's "reckless financial management" and reliance on unjustified loans, noting that the budget speech failed to address deepening economic hardships and high youth unemployment.

ActionSA has called for immediate, simplified access to indigent support and expanded employment programmes with tangible outcomes for the poor.