David Nthako Modupi

Attendance

Present

62

Leave of absence

2

Absent without leave

1

Arrived late

0

Left early

0

Reasons given for leave: Family or bereavement (1), Private business (1).

"Absent without leave" means the signed minutes of a meeting held while they were on council neither list them as present nor excuse them, and no similar name appears that day, so misspellings in the minutes don't count against anyone. Each square links to the minutes.

In the chamber

From the 10 sittings transcribed so far in their term. Times are approximate, to the nearest transcript line.

Not present when called

2

Times given the floor

8

Average wait to start

10 s

Average greetings first

31 s

Apology or leave of absence (2)

• 26 Aug 2026 · 00:41:08Leaving early. Early departure at 13:00. sitting
• 24 Jun 2026 · 00:24:05Leaving early. ANC caucus notified early departure. sitting

Not present when called (2)

• 30 Sept 2026 · 06:50:09Chair says Modupi appears absent on item 14; an ANC speaker then says 'I'm present' with network trouble. sitting
• 24 Jun 2026 · 07:11:44Chair moved on after Councillor Modupi did not respond on item 82. sitting

In their words

Every time the chair gave them the floor in a transcribed sitting (8), newest first. The words are the AI transcript of that stretch of the livestream (Argon), so they can include the chair or an interjection; the time link is the place to check.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 09:55:41Motion 1: Renaming Wolmarans Street · 3 min 17 s

  Read what they said (354 words)

  No, thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I want to put in front of this council that the African National Congress was founded inside of the church. There were the religious leaders, there were traditional leaders, and the African National Congress continues to respecting their role.

  Councillor, can you move around because you're breaking?

  Am I audible now?

  Yeah, now you're audible.

  Oh, it's all right. I'm saying, also when African National Congress was formed, there were chiefs, traditional leaders. We also value the indigenous knowledge, and we also value the contribution of Mr. Radebe that he's playing in the communities, but as African National Congress also, we are guided by the rules, we are guided by the values of the rules and the guidelines of the City of Johannesburg.

  Speaker, we must remember that our own City of Johannesburg policy on the naming and renaming of streets and public spaces, first approved in 2001 and reinforced through its revisions,

  Please move.

  Am I still inaudible?

  Yeah, now you became audible again.

  Okay, right. I was stating that the city's policy on the naming and renaming of the streets and public places, first approved in 2001 and reinforced through its revisions, explicitly states under section 7.1 that naming after living people should be avoided and only be done in exceptional cases. Now, Madam Speaker, bypassing this established guidelines without an extraordinary

  city-wide justification undermines the very framework this council voted to uphold. While still respecting and recognizing the role played by many religious leaders and those preserving the indigenous knowledge, we want to request Mr. Radebe to engage further with ourselves as the African National Congress, as we love him, so that we can check other streets, as Councillor Boer has said, that we've got about 850

  streets which remain unnamed, so that we don't find ourselves having to disagree in this platform and thereby looking as if we are opposing our lovely Mr. Radebe. As the ANC, I request that we do not accept the motion based on the reasons I have established. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:13:37Item 27: General valuation roll extension · 5 min 30 s

  Read what they said (610 words)

  Thank you. Thank you again, Madam Speaker. Uh let me greet you for the second time again with the Executive Mayor, the Deputy Executive Mayor, as well as the Councillors. Thank you for allowing me to take the floor for the second time today. Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the African National Congress to support the recommendation to extend the general valuation roll 2023 to June 2028.

  As the ANC, our oversight role is to protect the financial sustainability of this city, and a thorough analysis of this item shows that rushing a certified roll by January 2027 would be fiscally irresponsible, exposing Joburg to extreme revenue volatility and severe litigation. Madam Speaker, let us be completely honest.

  Let us be completely honest with this house. The core issue driving this request is capacity, and capacity alone. The opposition benches will try to reject this extension, claiming it is an administrative failure, but their argument ignore the harsh operational reality, particularly from uh Councillor Edwards. We have a severe resource shortage. Out of 81 funded positions,

  12 qualified valuers have resigned since October 2025. Yes, the International Property Tax Institute states the ideal industry standard is one valuer to a maximum of 10,000 properties, yet our remaining team is drowning under an unsustainable ratio of one to over 13,000 properties. Furthermore, the recent resignation of our mass appraisal modeller

  left all four critical modelling posts completely vacant. Combined with supply chain delays in securing essential aerial imagery and technical stability issues on the Ovivo valuation system, our team simply does not have the manpower required to complete a credible roll on time. Rejecting this extension is a vote for chaos. Pushing forward

  without capacity guarantees a flawed, highly contestable valuation roll that will trigger public outcry and collapse our rates base. This additional year is a responsible strategic intervention to break the recruitment moratorium, onboard critical interns, and build the capacity to deliver a bulletproof roll by 1 July 2028.

  And this will be able to address all those concerns Councillor Mpuumi uh raised. As the African National Congress, we got experience in governance. And this cannot be disputed because facts are there for everyone to see. You know, Madam Speaker, the City of Johannesburg was built in 1886, and in the next

  110 years, from 1886 to 1996, two diabolical regimes, colonial and apartheid regimes, built about 6,600 km of road networks and surfaced those roads in the City of Johannesburg for a period of 110 years. African National Congress came. In less than 30 years,

  Madam Speaker, African National Congress managed to surface 5,800 km of road networks. That shows that African National Congress has got experience in governing. We want to rebuild uh this City of Johannesburg. I believe that we are going to show the world that African National Congress is the only organization that can deliver in short notice what other

  uh systems can deliver in 110 years. Madam Speaker, as the African National Congress, we are supporting these recommendations, and we are also saying to the city residents, by the 4th of November, they should not make mistake. They should go out and vote for the African National Congress so that we cannot be stopped, as you saw that our funding plan

  were rejected on the basis that ANC do not have absolute majority. We are tired of finding ourselves in coalition governments. Residents must restore back the dignity of Johannesburg so that decisions can be taken and be implemented easily. As the African National Congress, as I indicated to you, we support recommendations in full. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

• 30 Sept 2026 · 01:26:43Item 17: Funding plan · 4 min 19 s

  Read what they said (493 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was struggling to unmute myself here. Am I audible now?

  Yes, you are.

  Thank you, thank you, Madam Speaker, Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg and Deputy Executive Mayor and fellow councillors. I rise on behalf of the African National Congress to declare our absolute oversight support for the recommendations in this funding plan. Our oversight role is not to paralyze governance, but to ensure strategic discipline. Therefore, we must directly reject the short-sighted, conservative narrative coming from the

  Freedom Front Plus benches. They claim it is too late, and so is DA, that we should stall this plan for the next Council under the simplistic guise that you cannot borrow your way out of trouble. Let us correct that fiscal illiteracy with raw facts. Service delivery cannot wait for a political transition. Paralyzing this plan now would be reckless sabotage of our communities. Furthermore, we are not borrowing for consumption. We are investing in capital infrastructure.

  To ActionSA, who falsely claim that this borrowing is anomalous with financial sustainability, look at the audited balance sheet. Our consolidated group gearing ratio stands at a healthy 28%, well below our prudent 45% ceiling. This leaves us 17 percentage points of fiscal headroom. And let us address the loud denials from the Democratic Alliance who are shouting that we have not collected over 90%.

  I urge the DA to stop playing cheap politics and read the actual official institutional tracking records. Through the aggressive implementations of our revenue turnaround strategy, including the aggressive workflow collective drive and disconnecting defaulting state organs, our collection rate has surged, hitting 90% in our active cycles. The official budget framework has structurally anchored our baseline to safeguard financial stability.

  So, stop weaponizing false accounting to justify your desperate threats to run to the judiciary. We say to the DA, stop trying to use the courts to stall the democratic decisions of this Council. You cannot litigate away the infrastructure needs of our people. Respect the legislature and respect the democratic outcomes. We fully support the recommendations to raise long term external borrowing of 3.5 billion rand for the financial year.

  Under the SPOMA ring-fencing reform, our heavy infrastructure entities, Johannesburg Water, City Power, and Pikitup, will now raise loan-funded capital directly on their own balance sheets, driving institutional accountability. This includes

  The R3.806 billion KfW Just Energy Transition Facility for City Power locking in a highly favorable fixed interest rate of 8.56%.

  And the R811.3 million asset-backed financing pipeline which will save ratepayers millions through margin reductions of up to 150 basis points.

  Madam Speaker, we are borrowing to fix the broken grids and leaky pipes that bleed our revenue base. This plan is legally bulletproof under the MFMA. The ANC supports the recommendations in full.

  We ask this house to reject the politics of paralysis, reject judicial overreach, and vote in favor of this progressive item. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

• 26 Aug 2026 · 02:09:31Items 1 and 2 · 7 min 30 s

  Read what they said (751 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker. Honourable Speaker, comrades, colleagues, and residents of the City of Johannesburg, allow me to say protocol observed. I rise in support and noting of the April and May Section 71 reports. Let us allow the numbers to speak, because the numbers tell us that the ANC-led

  The city's revenue base is performing above expectation. But comrades, revenue collection is not about collecting money for the sake of collecting money. Revenue is the bloodstream of service delivery. And the May monthly collection rate reached 91.2%, with year-to-date collection of approximately 85%.

  Now, let us look at what happened to that money. Capital expenditure increased from approximately 3.8 billion in April to 4.4 billion in May, an increase of approximately 566 million in one month. Capital execution improved from approximately 47 to 52%.

  That means money is being converted from a budget into an actual infrastructure and municipal assets. And the financial position strengthened further. Cash and investments increased by approximately 402 million rand from about 1.6 billion rand in April to approximately 2 billion rand in May. The sinking fund also reached approximately 2 billion

  rand. These are important indicators of financial strengthening, Madam Speaker. Colleagues in council, we must acknowledge the challenges. The May report recorded an operating deficit of approximately 18.3 million rand compared with an April surplus of approximately 752 million rand, as Councillor Santana has raised. We do acknowledge

  that, and we say we must address that. But we must not take one negative indicator and pretend that it cancels the entire financial picture. The same reports show that 1.4 billion above revenue budget, 91.2% monthly collection, 4.4 billion rand in capital expenditure, 52% capital execution, 402 million

  rand improvement in cash and investment, 2 billion in the sinking fund. And beyond the reporting period, the city and City Power subsequently settled the historic 5.25 billion rand Eskom debt in full! Councillors, let us click it. Let us click it. That is a progress.

  That is not a city that has surrendered. That is the city fighting its way back. The opposition wants us to believe the financial recovery is simply about just squeezing residents. No. The ANC understand that financial discipline and social responsibility must go together. We must collect what is legitimately due, but we must also protect vulnerable households, invest in infrastructure,

  and ensure that every rand collected ultimately contributes to a better city. Because Johannesburg is not a private debt collection agency, it is a municipality. So, Honourable Speaker, these two Section 71 reports demonstrate a positive trajectory. Revenue is strengthening, collection is strengthening, capital expenditure is increasing, liquidity is improving, reserves are strengthening,

  and the city is dealing decisively with its historical obligations. We are not claiming that Johannesburg has no problems. We are saying something more important: we have problems, but we have the financial capacity, political will, and institutional machinery to confront them. You know, during the terms of offices of both uh Mashaba and Mpho Phalatse,

  they squeezed the poor. They starved the poor in order to balance the books. They broke the machine, and after breaking the machine, they blamed the tools. It is us now, we are repairing the machine, strengthening the finances, and putting Johannesburg back on the road to recovery. That is why we even managed to pay that 5.25 billion rand to Eskom.

  I therefore support both the April and May Section 71 reports. The numbers show progress. Our responsibility now is to accelerate it. And as African National Congress, we will continue to demonstrate capacity that amongst ourselves we have people with capacity, such as the current Mayor of the City of Johannesburg,

  as he has demonstrated, working together with the Deputy Executive Mayor, Mme Loyiso Masuku. And we are saying to the residents of Johannesburg, come 4 May, don't make a mistake of bringing us into coalition governments. You have seen that political parties, they are trading positions, uh they are trading positions because they want to sift the city out of uh its resources. We are saying vote African National Congress.

  We saw when we clean the inner city, today some of the streets of the inner city you can walk freely without being hindered by the hawkers or whatever. You saw when we worked at Marble Towers, there are many examples that we can make. African National Congress will continue working very hard with the experience that it has accumulated over the years. Thank you very much.

• 26 Aug 2026 · 01:39:346 · 1 min 6 s

  Read what they said (136 words)

  They are sabotaging. Oh, it's working. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for providing me with this opportunity. First, let me pass my greetings to yourself, the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg in absentia, as well as the Deputy Executive Mayor, Loyiso Masuku, as well as the entire members of Mayoral Committee and the councillors and the guests up there, together with the residents at home. And not forgetting that we've got the visitor here, our RS, Regional Secretary Sasabona, a.k.a. the Black Bull.

  Madam Speaker, I rise here to support the nomination of Councillor Thapelo Radebe as the Chairperson of the Finance Committee because we know him. He is one of the progressive councillors and he has been serving in this committee since from the beginning of this term of office. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:19:5879, 80 and 81 · 8 min 20 s

  Read what they said (1031 words)

  Thank you, Madam Speaker. Uh Madam Speaker, let me pass my greetings to the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg in absentia, Ntate Sello Morero. And also, let me extend my greetings to the Deputy Executive Mayor of the City of

  Try next door.

  Okay, it requires mine. I think it, mine will do.

  Loyiso Masuku. And uh without any further ado, let me say protocol observed. Madam Speaker, I want to start by saying, you know, in the African National Congress, we are very conscientious, because we are hard workers. I spent time with uh Councillor Nkonyeni. He frequents my office.

  So, most of the time, I show him that we are hard workers. At some point, when I was showing him, I said, if you don't agree, let us go to the public radio and have a debate, me and you. So, I think he has succumbed and he believed that African National Congress works, hence uh he also encourages

  the citizens of Gauteng province and in particular the citizens of Johannesburg to vote for the African National Congress.

  Mngani wami, uyabo? Uyabona ukuthi ngiwenzile umsebenzi? Ngicela ukuthi uze, kudala ngikutshela angithi? Nayo nomphakathi wase Pimville uyazi ukuthi uyakuthanda angithi? Ngicela ukuthi usondele lapho.

  Yeah, uh Madam Speaker, whilst still at it, I rise to address the Section 71 monthly budget report for January, February and March. At the outset, let me say that these reports do not paint a picture of total collapse, but neither do they allow this Council to be comfortable. What they show is a municipality whose financial position improved by the end of the quarter,

  but where important weaknesses remain, especially in the expenditure control, collection performance, capital delivery across some entities and the reconciliation between the monthly budget reports and the quarterly reports. Firstly, on the Section 71 monthly budget reports, when one reads the January, February and March reports together, a clear pattern emerges, Madam Speaker. In January,

  the city recorded revenue above budget, which is welcome, but the positive revenue performance was undermined by operating expenditure that was already above budget, resulting in an operating deficit where the city had actually planned to be in surplus. Capital expenditure was moving, but still at a low level for a municipality of this size and developmental responsibility.

  In February, the position remained mixed. Revenue was still above budget and capital expenditure improved slightly, but the operating deficit worsened. So, despite the revenue strength, the city was still not translating that into a healthy operating position. That tells us that expenditure pressure remained a serious concern. Then in March, we see a much stronger picture. Revenue outperformed budget. More significantly,

  expenditure pressure reduced, the operating position moved into surplus and capital expenditure rose meaningfully. On the face of it, March is the strongest of the three monthly reports. So, taken together, Madam Speaker, the Section 71 reports tell us this. The city entered the quarter under pressure, remained under strain in February, but recovered materially by the end of March.

  This is the broad financial story of Quarter 3. Now Speaker, there are indeed matters in these monthly reports that deserve to be commended. The first is that revenue performance remained above budget across the quarter, and by March it had improved quite substantially. That is not a small achievement in the current economic climate, Madam Speaker.

  The second is that capital expenditure improved over the quarter. It rose from a weak position in January, improved in February and showed a much stronger position by the end of March. That suggests that some efforts were made to accelerate implementation. The third is that the Section 71 reports themselves are detailed enough to support oversight. They provide a basis for Council to ask questions on revenue, expenditure, capital,

  cash, debtors, creditors and entity performance. But Speaker, these positive elements must be weighed against serious concerns, and as African National Congress we are not oblivious to those concerns. The first concern is expenditure pressure. In all three months, the city's operating expenditure remained above budget, even though the rate of overspending reduced over time.

  This means that while the trend improved, the city was still spending above where it should have been. It is, therefore, not enough to celebrate the March turnaround without asking why January and February were under such pressure in the first place. The second is the sharp movement between February and March. We moved from a worsening deficit in February to a significant operating surplus in March. Now that may well

  be legitimate. It may be driven by stronger collections, grant receipts, expenditure timing, year-end adjustments or a combination of factors. But it is a movement large enough that Council is entitled to ask for a full explanation. We cannot simply note the improvement and move on. We must understand what caused it and whether it is sustainable.

  The third concern is that capital expenditure, although improving, still appears uneven. By March the position is still much better than in January. But one strong month at the end of a quarter does not automatically mean the capital program is healthy across the city group. We must still ask which entities and which projects are carrying the program and which ones remain at risk of under-delivery.

  Speaker, I now uh want to turn uh to the conclusion of uh this uh speech of mine. Uh as uh I conclude this speech of mine, Madam Speaker, let me just go a little bit further. These reports do not call for panic altogether,

  but they do call for vigilance. They show improvement, yes, but improvement mixed with inconsistency, pressure and unresolved questions. It is therefore the duty of this Council not merely to receive these reports, but to interrogate them, to reconcile them and to ensure that the financial story being told to Council is complete, coherent and credible. And we also uh we also thank the administration to bring this report to us.

  Uh we see that is the approach to transparency. We as the African National Congress, we welcome this report and we note this report. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

• 28 May 2026 · 06:01:48Item 4 · 46 s

  Read what they said (104 words)

  Okay, thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

  Ke dumedise. Ka bokhutshwanyana feela, Madam Speaker. Ke nahana gore boholo ba makhanselara bo se bo buile. Mme ga ke batle gore ke tlo phethaphetha dintho tse seng ba di buile. Jwalo ka ha ke eme mona na, ke emetse mokgatlo o mogolo wa African National Congress, ke batla gore le rona re tshaela monwana

  tumellano pakeng tsa toropo ya Johannesburg le banka ya Standard Bank gore e tle e fane ka ditshebeletso go akaretsa le di-entity tsa gona. Ka mantswe a na ne ke kopa gore ke dule ka mo ga tafole ya motsamaisi wa dipuisano.

• 28 May 2026 · 01:21:11Item 3: debate on the budget speech · 6 min 58 s

  Read what they said (825 words)

  Sorry, sorry, sorry. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, let me greet you and thank you for providing me with this opportunity to engage on this very critical instrument of service delivery, the budget of the City of Johannesburg. But before I delve any deeper, allow me to extend my greetings to the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg,

  Ntate Sello Morero,

  his Deputy Executive Mayor,

  Mme Loyiso Masuku,

  allow me to also extend my greetings to the Chief Whip of Council, Ntate Kasamula Chauke. Also allow me to extend my greetings to the Deputy Chief Whip of the African National Congress in this Council, uMama Makhosazana Ndlela. Also allow me to extend my greetings to the Chair of Chairs, Ntate Adolf Marema,

  together with the entire collective of the chairpersons of respective Section 79 committees. Also allow me to greet colleagues, the entire Council, Councillors in this Connie Bapela Chamber in general and Councillors of the African National Congress in particular. I would have done an injustice without greeting the guests who have visited us here and also the viewers at home. Madam Speaker, as I have already indicated that this is a very critical instrument of service delivery, I am standing here to debate on this budget, which is about 97.1 billion rand.

  This budget, Madam Speaker, is in two components. The first component is the capital leg of 8.8 billion rand. The second is the operating revenue of 90.4 billion rand with the operating expenditure of 88.3 billion rand, giving us a surplus of 2.1 billion rand. This budget, I know some may want to argue, Madam Speaker, that it is not funded. I want to argue on behalf of the African National Congress to say this budget is funded. Many will point to our historical trends of cash collection. If you look recently on Channel 405, Newzroom Afrika,

  Ntate Sello Dada Morero, who is our Executive Mayor, told the world that towards the end of the third quarter and in the beginning of this quarter, we saw improvements with cash collection hovering around 90%. That is very important to acknowledge, Madam Speaker. I think this city is doing very well in that regard. And I want to say to the Councillors of the African National Congress and the entire collective of the GNU, we must give ourselves a round of applause for having worked like this. Madam Speaker, I'm saying with that 90%, we can increase it to reach the benchmark of the National Treasury, which is 95%. We are closer to that, which is the sustainability cash collection rate.

  But there are other factors that are going to make us to improve our collections. Yesterday, when we were listening to the budget speech, the MMC of Finance, Mme Loyiso Masuku, indicated that we are going to reduce our energy loss from 27% to 15%, which is likely to result to extra 3.9 billion rand. That should be applauded because as the City of Johannesburg, we have been experiencing difficulties, but with that, we are going to see exponential increase in our cash collection. Madam Speaker, while we are still at it, we are also going to reduce non-revenue water to making sure that we improve our cash collection.

  Also important, we are saying for us to achieve this, we need to, Madam Speaker, to have that symbiotic relationship with our residents as the City of Johannesburg. They must pay so that the city can so that.

  Uyangiphazamisa, Mama. Heyi bantu.

  Just hold on, Councillor.

  Okay.

  Councillors, we just all read Rule 30 this morning. And there's two councillors at the back that is moving up and down and actually not allowing the speaker on the podium to be able to speak. Can we not do that? And all those that are walking at the back, can you be seated?

  No, colleagues, we can't have this. Councillors, we can't have this. We can't be calling on people to have order all the time. Councillor, can you continue?

  Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Yes, as I was indicating that the residents of the City of Johannesburg, we are pleading with them to also pay so that the city can deliver. And also, if you have to check the speech, Madam Speaker, also acknowledged that there might be some macroeconomic trends, meaning that the budget was modeled against the stress testing and is going to withstand those circumstances if they arise. And lastly, Madam Speaker, the budget also acknowledged that we do have people who are unable to pay. And those people across the city, even those who are able to pay, will be given 6 kiloliters of water, and those who are ESP holders will be getting 15 kiloliters of water together with 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is a very comprehensive and inclusive budget, Madam Speaker. Thank you very much. As the ANC, we support the budget. Thank you.

Spoke on

• 30 Sept 2026 · 01:12:47Item 17: Funding plan for medium-term capital budget 2026/27–2028/29
• 30 Sept 2026 · 02:04:20Item 27: Extension of general valuation roll 2023 to June 2028
• 30 Sept 2026 · 09:46:48Motion 1: DA speech and points of order about 'ANC motion'
• 30 Sept 2026 · 09:55:19Motion 1: ANC position, MMC Amad and proposer's reply
• 26 Aug 2026 · 01:37:32Nomination and election of Finance Section 79 chairperson
• 26 Aug 2026 · 02:09:17Items 1 and 2: ANC on the Section 71 reports
• 25 Jun 2026 · 02:19:44ANC on Section 71 reports
• 28 May 2026 · 01:20:43ANC debate speaker Cllr Modupi supports the budget
• 28 May 2026 · 06:01:35Item 4: Cllr Modupi, MMC response and outcome