The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has defended its position in rejecting the City of Ekurhuleni’s proposed R71 billion budget for the 2026/2027 financial year, insisting the plan is unfunded and financially unrealistic.
The budget was rejected in council last week, with 96 councilors voting in favor and 105 voting against. As a result, Finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi must now return with a revised budget for consideration. Dlabathi has urged political parties to work together to find common ground to ensure service delivery is not compromised, suggesting that bruised political egos—particularly from the EFF—had obstructed the budget’s passage.
However, EFF Gauteng spokesperson Dumisani Baleni rejected this characterization, emphasizing that the budget’s failure was not the doing of a single party.
“The impression must not be created that the budget was only rejected by the EFF. It was also rejected by ActionSA, by the DA, by other political organizations which constitute a majority in council,” Baleni stated. “The notion that the EFF rejected the budget alone, or is the one that caused the budget to fail on the basis of politics, is very false.”
Baleni noted that the EFF holds only 31 council seats, making it mathematically impossible for the party to have defeated the budget single-handedly. He outlined several substantive reasons for the rejection:
- Unrealistic Revenue Projections: The budget relies on revenue collection projections from entities such as Eskom and the City of Ekurhuleni, despite the city’s current collection rate falling below 86%. “You can’t base your budget on projections that you are going to collect when you’re actually doing badly in terms of that,” Baleni said.
- Over-Reliance on Contracted Services: The EFF opposes the budget’s heavy dependence on outsourcing and contracted services, advocating instead for building internal state capacity.
- Inadequate Consultation: Baleni alleged that the ANC-led administration did not consult properly with other party caucuses during the budget preparation process.
- Procedural Concerns: The spokesperson highlighted that the Speaker of Council, led by the ANC, had only recently agreed to the EFF’s long-standing request that budget votes require a proper majority vote—a procedural matter previously subject to legal challenge.
Baleni addressed the political context, noting that the ANC leads the municipality with less than 50% of council seats. “They think they can bully everyone,” he said. “When we reject their budget, they go on in public and say the EFF sided with the DA and ActionSA. No, the EFF rejected on the basis of the reasons the EFF has even tabled and presented in council.”
When asked what could break the current deadlock, Baleni emphasized the need for genuine engagement. “What would break the deadlock would be the recognition that they need to consult political organizations. They need to engage the Democratic Alliance, the EFF, ActionSA, and we must have agreeable terms in terms of what constitutes the budget,” he said. He called for a credible revenue collection plan and a reduction in reliance on external service providers.
Baleni also referenced internal tensions within the administration, alluding to the resignation of the former MMC for finance, who reportedly cited the mayor’s leadership style as “arrogant” and “unworkable.”
Addressing the EFF’s current position outside the executive committee, Baleni clarified the party’s role. “When we are in government, we are consulted properly because we form part of that executive process. Now that we are in opposition, we need to hold the government accountable. That does not mean we do not consider our people. It means that we consider what could be the best considerations for our people, and then we vote accordingly.”
He concluded by reaffirming the EFF’s commitment to stable governance: “We support governance. We support stability. We are not going to destabilize government on the basis only that we are opposition. That’s not how it works.”
The onus now falls on the city’s leadership to revise the budget and secure the necessary cross-party support to ensure the municipality can continue to pay workers and deliver essential services to residents.
