- Stability at last in the admin: The meeting marked the first sitting with a permanent City Manager, Floyd Brink, back in office, creating a real opportunity for clearer accountability on spending, borrowing and service delivery in 2026.
- Rules bent on big money decision: Council rules were stretched to allow a second vote on a long-term loan for “water infrastructure” after the first vote failed to reach a quorum, raising serious concerns about procedural integrity.
- Coalition stepped back from the brink: However messy the politics, the fact that both the no-confidence motion and the revenge motions were withdrawn avoided another full-blown governance crisis and gives the city a chance—however slim—to refocus on fixing services.
- Bloated legal contract rubber-stamped: Despite a R250m-a-year legal services bill, repeated court losses, and no performance report since 2021, changes to the legal contract were simply “noted” without amendment.
Just a month ago there was talk of “bipartisan hope” and a fresh spirit of cooperation. On Tuesday, that evaporated into political posturing, factional brinkmanship and behind-the-scenes chess moves that had very little to do with the people who actually live in this city.
Once again, a motion of no confidence in Executive Mayor Dada Morero – this time from within his own coalition – hung over the agenda. Minority partners had sharpened the knives; revenge motions were queued up in response. And then, just as quickly, the temperature dropped. A deal was struck behind closed doors, the motion against Morero was withdrawn, and the tit-for-tat “punishment” motions against those who drove it were also pulled.
If that was predictable, what followed was more troubling.
Council rules were bent to allow a second vote on a budget item that requires a show-of-hands quorum. On the first round, a long-term loan – packaged as funding for water infrastructure investment – did not meet the threshold. Under normal circumstances, that should have been the end of the matter.
Instead, the Government of Local Unity simply called for a re-do. On the second attempt, they managed to get the loan passed.
Whether you support the loan or not, the principle matters. If a quorum requirement can be treated as a speed bump rather than a rule, then any future controversial financial decision can be pushed through on the basis of “try again until you get the right answer”. That’s not how you build trust in a city already shaken by financial scandals and service-delivery failures.
The pattern continued with the city’s legal services contract. Despite serious opposition in the chamber, changes to an already-extended contract were merely “noted” without amendment – this in a context where Johannesburg is spending R250 million a year on contracted legal services, has racked up multiple high-profile courtroom losses, and has not tabled a single performance report on the service providers since the contract began in 2021.
On Wednesday council reconvened – at least on paper. In reality, the proceedings were overshadowed by the ANC’s provincial conference, where Morero faces a far more serious threat to his future as provincial chairperson from his own MMC for finance, Loyiso Masuku.
If the last 24 hours are any indication, the real battles are being fought in party caucuses and provincial corridors, not in the chamber.
There was, however, one genuinely positive development: this was the first council meeting with a permanent city manager back in the hot seat. Floyd Brink officially started his new contract on Monday, 1 December.
After years of musical chairs in that office, a stable accounting officer should mean clearer lines of responsibility for the very issues that dominated this meeting – from long-term borrowing to bloated legal bills. In 2025, “we await some accountability and transparency” has become a cliché in Johannesburg politics. But with a permanent city manager now in place, it is no longer a polite request; it’s the minimum residents are entitled to demand in the new year.
By Julia Fish, JoburgCAN Manager. 3 December 2025.