Mandy Wiener speaks to the CDE executive director, Ann Bernstein about the latest report about Joburg’s Broken Budget for the fixing Joburg series. Ann warned that the city is in a “vicious spiral” or “fiscal fiction,” with unpaid utility bills rising from R15 billion in 2015 to R72 billion by 2025. This has led to massive debts owed to suppliers like Eskom and Randwater. Bernstein urged the city to stop corruption, cut employee costs, and prioritize infrastructure maintenance to avoid total financial collapse. This interview follows the release of CDE’s latest Johannesburg Matters series publication Joburg’s Broken Budget.