South Africa's Finance Minister threatened to withhold Johannesburg's July funding over a R10.3 billion municipal wage deal he called illegal and unaffordable; Treasury later released the July payments

In a letter to Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero dated 23 April 2026, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the R10.3 billion wage agreement with the South African Municipal Workers' Union was illegally signed, ordered that its implementation be halted, and asked how the city was funding it. He gave formal notice that National Treasury would invoke section 216(2) of the Constitution against the July 2026 equitable-share instalment (about R8 billion), noting the city owes creditors R25.2 billion against R3.9 billion in cash.