The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) approved the R2.5 billion loan from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) on Thursday during a council meeting. Picture: Kamogelo Moichela / IOL
The financially-strained City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has finally approved the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) R2.5 billion loan to alleviate service delivery struggles.
The loan will be repaid in a period of 15 months.
It was passed during a council meeting on Thursday in Joburg after being the centre of controversy for several weeks.
ActionSA voted with the EFF, ANC, DA, African Independent Congress (AIC), African Transformation Movement (ATM), and PA in favour of the motion, while the GOOD party and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) voted against the motion.
About 246 voted yes and five voted against the motion, while zero abstained.
ActionSA was among the parties who previously rejected the loan earlier this month.
At first, the loan was rejected due to Johannesburg Finance MMC Dada Morero not providing adequate information on the purpose and terms of the loan.
Reacting to the loan, Gwamanda said the loan will benefit the residents in terms of service delivery.
He said it was about time the political parties put their differences aside in favour of the residents.
"They came to a conclusion that it was worthy of being passed because it forms a critical aspect of the overall funding model as a city that is legislatured," he said.
Gwamanda further urged parties to always take into account that there were things that they could debate about, but others needed to be approved on what needed to be achieved.
Furthermore, the mayor scrapped claims that the loan would affect residents negatively.
"The loan is not going to affect residents in any way, this has always been a funding model of the city whereby it depends on three sources. Firstly, is revenue that we generate as a city, secondly, grant funding from the National Treasury, and the third being loans that we take.
"It has always been a standing approach for the city," he maintained.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics
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