The City of Johannesburg has secured approval for a R750 million loan aimed at strengthening and modernising the metro’s water infrastructure, a move officials say is critical to stabilising supply and preventing system failures.
The loan, sourced from the International Finance Corporation, was passed during a council sitting on Tuesday. A total of 137 councillors voted in favour, 102 opposed the motion and three abstained. Council Speaker Margaret Arnolds confirmed that the vote met the required threshold of 136 votes for approval.
According to the city, the funding will be directed towards improving water reservoirs, reinforcing ageing systems and supporting Joburg Water’s long-term infrastructure recovery plans. The loan application process began earlier in the year and has now cleared all National Treasury requirements.
Finance MMC Loyiso Masuku defended the proposal, arguing that councillors who rejected the loan were effectively voting against service delivery improvements.
“This is going to assist us in delivering services, especially in our water infrastructure. Those who are not supporting the report are not supporting service delivery. We ask council to support progress in the City of Johannesburg,” Masuku said.
Earlier in the session, Executive Mayor Dada Morero reassured councillors that the city’s service delivery programmes remain in motion beyond the recent G20 Summit hosted in Johannesburg. He said city departments are continuing with high-impact projects aimed at addressing long-standing infrastructure problems.
“We are continuing with high-impact service delivery beyond the G20. We want to ensure we give services to our people and deal with the failures we are faced with,” Morero said.
The mayor added that discussions held with business leaders during the G20 signalled strong interest from the private sector to collaborate on infrastructure recovery.
“South Africans have demonstrated, through CEOs, that they want to help save Johannesburg from decay and collapse,” he said.
Morero also urged political parties to work together as the city rolls out its infrastructure and service delivery recovery plans.
The loan approval comes at a time when Joburg faces persistent water shortages, ageing infrastructure and growing pressure to stabilise supply in the wake of repeated system failures.