{"id":97813,"date":"2026-04-27T15:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:33:47","slug":"south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s Richest City Faces Financial Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Global ratings agency Moody\u2019s has placed the City of Johannesburg\u2019s credit ratings under review for a potential downgrade, the latest sign pointing to financial distress in South Africa\u2019s richest city.<\/p>\n

This follows the suspension of trading of the city\u2019s bonds on the JSE in late March, as a result of delays in the finalisation of the city\u2019s audited financial statements.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on 17 April 2026, the New York-based ratings agency said the suspension does not necessarily mean Johannesburg has defaulted on its debt repayments.<\/p>\n

However, they said the delay in publishing the city\u2019s financial statements reflected a severe degradation of its governance and transparency.<\/p>\n

Officials from the City of Johannesburg said the delay was due to an unresolved dispute with the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), and that it expects to release its audited statements by 31 May 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cFailure to submit the audited financial statements by May 2026, which could trigger the delisting of Johannesburg\u2019s debt instruments from the JSE, could lead to a downgrade,\u201d Moody\u2019s said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, a qualified audit opinion on the city\u2019s fiscal 2024\/25 financial statements would likely add downward pressure on the ratings, as it would signal a deterioration in governance and financial reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s current Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) level is Ba3, which is already below investment grade, and is now at risk of a further downgrade.<\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s identified other areas of concern for the credit rating, including Johannesburg\u2019s ongoing water management crisis, high unemployment, and ageing infrastructure.<\/p>\n

South African ratings agency GCR, which Moody\u2019s acquired 100% ownership of in July 2024, also downgraded Johannesburg\u2019s credit rating outlook to \u201cnegative\u201d on 9 April 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the review period, we will assess the subsequent actions of Johannesburg and the JSE to address the delinquent financial statements,\u201d Moody\u2019s said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will review Johannesburg\u2019s ease of access to financing and capacity to meet upcoming financial obligations, as well as governance capacity with respect to timeliness and transparency of financial information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city responds<\/b><\/p>\n

City of Johannesburg Chief Operations Officer Tshepo Makola<\/p>\n

City of Johannesburg Chief Operations Officer Tshepo Makola appeared on 702 to explain the delay regarding the city\u2019s financial statements.<\/p>\n

Makola reiterated the city\u2019s stance that the delay was due to unresolved technical issues raised by the AGSA, and that they did not reflect a city in financial distress.<\/p>\n

While the city had completed and submitted the results to the AGSA by the submission deadline of 31 August 2025, issues around the city\u2019s cooperation reportedly delayed the audit process.<\/p>\n

Makola said the city had finally concluded the auditing process last month and was now preparing its statements for submission to the JSE.<\/p>\n

With the deadline for the statement submission set for the end of May, the city hopes that a timely submission will see its suspension on the JSE lifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoody\u2019s will then react to that,\u201d Makola said. \u201cIt\u2019s a normal course of business where, after the Auditor-General issues an opinion, ratings agencies will review and see if our ratings are still in line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a change in the audit opinion, they will obviously have to look at that. So, that dispute has been resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what the dispute with the AGSA was about, Makola said there were multiple issues raised during the audit process.<\/p>\n

These included disagreements on the impairment of certain assets, such as the building where the Department of Public Safety is headquartered, as well as around certain contract payments.<\/p>\n

Makola said that even before the audit process began, tensions between the city and the Auditor-General were already high.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight before the audit started, the Auditor-General was speaking at Parliament and said the city does not have the financial capacity or skill,\u201d Makola said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlready from there, you could have seen that the audit was going to be difficult. But we finally did reach an agreement on some areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Global ratings agency Moody\u2019s has placed the City of Johannesburg\u2019s credit ratings under review for a potential downgrade, the latest sign pointing to financial distress in South Africa\u2019s richest city. This follows the suspension of trading of the city\u2019s bonds on the JSE in late March, as a result of delays in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa's Richest City Faces Financial Crisis - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Global ratings agency Moody\u2019s has placed the City of Johannesburg\u2019s credit ratings under review for a potential downgrad ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa's Richest City Faces Financial Crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Global ratings agency Moody\u2019s has placed the City of Johannesburg\u2019s credit ratings under review for a potential downgrad ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-27T15:25:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-27T15:33:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1777291398.49677.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa’s Richest City Faces Financial Crisis\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-27T15:25:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-27T15:33:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1777291398.49677.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africas-richest-city-faces-financial-crisis\",\"name\":\"South Africa's Richest City Faces Financial Crisis - 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