Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

18 November 2025

2-minute read

According to a Sunday Times report, Joburg Mayor Dada Morero has diverted billions of Rands from the city’s budget to avert protests ahead of the G20 Summit set to take place in Johannesburg this week.

With SAMWU threatening to close of major routes if they do not receive wage increases, spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg, Nthatisi Modingoane, refutes claims that Mayor Morero was blackmailed, stating that he has never seen an article so “riddled with lies as that one”.

Modingoane states that from 2016, the core issue with SAMWU was that the grading of the municipality is skewed, with employees being remunerated at grade 8 level instead of grade 10 level. On Friday, an agreement was reached to close those gaps and disparities, and a final draft agreement was presented this morning. Once this has been signed, the City will need to assess where savings can be found and how the agreement can be met. Furthermore, under the Municipal Finance Management Act, no-one will be allowed to bypass the budget and move around funds without a proper budget review process.

Citing the protests at the U20 Summit in September, Modingoane says that organised labour is known to use international gatherings to sway the people. However, he emphasizes that the National Security Cluster is ready for any eventuality leading up to and during the G20.

In terms of Rands and cents, for the current financial year, they need about R1.2billion to “deal with the gaps” and about to R4.1billion for the upcoming years. Modingoane states that money has not been diverted to fast-track upgrades for sprucing up the city as “there is no separate budget for the G20 in the city’s current budget.”

“If we have to get our city right, let’s start with the basics.” He mentions that the amount of just over R8billion in the capital budget will be used to beautify the spaces at city parks, fix the roads, lights and traffic lights, at a rapid pace.

“The work has always been done,” he says, but with issues of lawlessness and vandalism, it appears not to have been done in the past. Law enforcement and security clusters have been put in place to deal with issues of vandalism leading up to the G20. Although there are no new interventions and these plans were always on the cards, Modingoane says that they have “upped the game” in terms of the enforcement of laws and by-laws.

The spokesperson assures the public that the current leadership has reinstated the disciplinary board within the city so that allegations of corruption can be adequately dealt with and senior managers will be held responsible. They are confident that the Auditor General will find that the funds have been used effectively.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Nthatisi Modingoane.