South Africa’s richest city in a debt spiral

• Johannesburg's debt has accumulated R72 billion, up from R15 billion a decade ago, forcing the city to raise tariffs and reducing the number of customers willing to pay for services.
• The city's economy is growing at a slower pace than its expenditure, with a working-age population growing by 767,000 but only adding 30,000 jobs over the past decade.
• The city's financial crisis has sparked concerns about the viability of state utilities, with late or non-payment of bills threatening the city's ability to deliver municipal services and the ANC trailing in opinion polls ahead of local government elections.