The EFF, which turned down an invite to serve on Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza’s mayoral committee, has rejected the 2025/2026 adjustment budget, citing weak financial governance, unrealistic revenue projections, and poor administrative planning within the metro, SA’s manufacturing heartland.
It said the adjusted operating and capital budget approved by the council on Tuesday reflected a municipality struggling with financial credibility and administrative discipline.
However, Xhakaza said the approval marked an important institutional milestone and “sends a clear signal that council remains focused, functional and committed to the work of governing in the interest of residents”.
The adjusted budget reflected several material interventions that would directly benefit the residents of Ekurhuleni. “At a consolidated level, the city’s operating revenue increases by R829.9m to R66.325bn, while operating expenditure increases by R784.8m to R65.629bn. The operating surplus improves by R45.1m to R695.4m. At the same time, the total capital budget rises by R158.26m, from R3.197bn to R3.355bn,” Xhakaza said.
“Most importantly for residents, the adjustment budget significantly strengthens the city’s repairs and maintenance effort. An additional R239m has been allocated, increasing the repairs and maintenance budget from R3.865bn to R4.379bn.
“This creates the financial base for a rapid repairs and maintenance programme across key service delivery areas and gives fresh momentum to a revitalised Fixing the Frontline programme focused on restoring municipal facilities, infrastructure reliability and the conditions under which frontline workers serve communities.”
The city is entering the next phase of the financial year with greater cohesion in council, a stronger maintenance posture, targeted infrastructure investment, and renewed urgency to fix local government from the frontline upwards
— Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, Ekurhuleni mayor
EFF councillor and former finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga said revenue projections remained increasingly detached from the city’s actual collection performance, “while departments continue to demonstrate weak operational readiness and inconsistent implementation of key programmes”.
“Taken together, these developments confirm a pattern of weak financial management, unstable planning, and ineffective oversight,” Dunga said. He added the EFF would continue to reject budgets that prioritised political convenience over the material needs of Ekurhuleni residents.
There has been growing tension between Xhakaza and the EFF. In June 2024, the executive mayor fired EFF Gauteng chair Nkululeko Dunga as finance MMC, replacing him with ANC Ekurhuleni regional secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi.
The EFF was also unhappy when the ANC successfully fielded its councillor Dora Mlambo when the EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivhenga resigned as speaker in December 2025. The EFF believed it was entitled to reclaim the position.
EFF leader Julius Malema has accused Xhakaza of going rogue and trying to push the EFF out of the metro, saying the red berets will reconsider its support for the ANC in Gauteng, in which premier Panyaza Lesufi governs through a minority government reliant on the EFF’s support, among other parties.
Xhakaza said the approval of the adjusted budget was a “clear demonstration that Ekurhuleni is moving with purpose and with stability. This council decision gives effect to our renewal agenda by directing resources where they are needed most: repairs and maintenance, ageing infrastructure, frontline service delivery, ICT modernisation and operational recovery”.
“It means we can now intensify rapid repairs, strengthen Fixing the Frontline, and continue building a capable municipality that works for our people. We take this as a mandate for decisive implementation.”
The mayor said the budget aligned political direction with financial decisions.
“The office of the executive mayor therefore views [the] approval as both a governance achievement and a service delivery instrument. It affirms that the city is entering the next phase of the financial year with greater cohesion in council, a stronger maintenance posture, targeted infrastructure investment, and renewed urgency to fix local government from the frontline upwards.”
Business Day
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