151 municipalities in South Africa on the brink of collapse: National Treasury

WHILE 151 municipalities are teetering on the brink of collapse, 43 have already collapsed and require urgent intervention to rescue them, National Treasury told Parliament on Wednesday.

Senior officials from Treasury painted a bleak picture when they appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations.

Members of Parliament were briefing on local government underspending in respect of the Municipal Revenue Management Improvement Programme and progress on the implementation of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS).

In a synopsis, Treasury Deputy Director-General for Intergovernmental Relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni, said local government finances are rising indebtedness and creditors.

Elaborating on the unsavoury state of affairs, Sadesh Ramjathan, Local Government Budget Analysis Director at National Treasury, said of the country’s 257 municipalities, only 58 presented unfunded budgets for the 2022/23 financial year.

“This immediately suggests that 98 municipalities plan to spend more than the revenue they collected, which may include the inability to meet financial obligations. There