S. Africa unveils Johannesburg fiscal rescue plan

South Africa’s treasury plans a three-year intervention to stabilize Johannesburg’s public finances, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said Monday.

Implementation of the plan will continue through local elections, regardless of whether there is a new municipal administration, according to Godongwana.

The move follows the treasury’s decision this year to withhold budget allocations to Johannesburg and dozens of other municipalities in a crackdown on alleged wasteful spending. Local elections are in two months, and the African National Congress, the largest party in the governing coalition, is expected to struggle: Recent IPSOS polling puts ANC support at 31% — both nationwide and in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg accounts for roughly 16% of gross domestic product in Africa’s biggest economy, but has struggled for years to provide reliable public services, with regular power and water crises. Last month, the Centre for Development and Enterprise think tank said the city is “living off a fiscal fiction.”