Joburg's R89.4bn budget 'is politically motivated'

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused the ruling coalition in the City of Johannesburg of allocating its budget to areas where it is most likely to get votes.

- Lunga Mzangwe & Aarti Bhana

"It's a political budget and it is just to ensure that they are putting money in areas where they know they are going to get more votes [going] to the current ruling coalition at the moment," said the DA's Johannesburg caucus leader, Belinda Echeozonjoku.

On Wednesday, finance MMC Margaret Arnolds tabled a budget of R89.4 billion for the 2025-26 financial year, describing it as a "pro-poor and pro-growth budget".

The capital budget of R8.7 billion (R26.2 billion over the medium term) intentionally targets regions that were affected by spatial planning during apartheid, according to the statement. This includes Alexandra, Diepsloot, Kaalfontein, Orange Farm and Lenasia South.

Echeozonjoku said one of the concerns for the DA was that huge amounts were being allocated to Region E, under which Alexandra township falls, but not much improvement had taken place there.