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Can Johannesburg fix its books before the doom loop wins?

It has a name: fiscal fiction. Spending as though the cash were already in the bank. But increasingly, it isn’t. A new report from the Centre for Development and Enterprise shows just how far…

  • Johannesburg finances based on uncollected revenue, not actual cash receipts
  • R13-billion shortfall in last three years, R30-billion less than revenues after borrowings
  • Unpaid bills and debts fuel fiscal downward spiral, increasing tariffs and default rates

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