City of Ekurhuleni rejects 'unsolicited' Moody's ratings downgrade

JOHANNESBURG - The City of Ekurhuleni has rejected Moody’s credit rating, which downgraded the metro's junk status a notch further. 

On Wednesday morning, the rating agency downgraded the city from Caa1 to Caa2, which means the municipality is of poor financial standing and subject to very high credit risk. 

Moody’s said this was largely due to the municipality failing to submit its audited financial statements to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) within the 29 February deadline. 

READ: Moody's downgrades Ekurhuleni and Tshwane

The City of Ekurhuleni has called the rating unsolicited. 

In a statement, the city says it does not have a formal evaluation agreement with Moody’s, however, this is not a requirement for rating agencies to evaluate a government entity. 

Ekurhuleni Finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga said people should wait for the city's officially designated rating agency.

“The city's financial integrity remains extremely sound and we further urge our stakeholders to focus on forthcoming reviews by our officially designated rating agencies."

Dunga also told Eyewitness News that the city received its audited financial statements from the Auditor General which will be presented to council next Tuesday.