Ramaphosa: Funding model for SA’s struggling municipalities to be reviewed

By Simon Nare

Delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Cape Town on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said government intends to review the funding model for municipalities as many of them do not have a viable and sustainable revenue base.

Ramaphosa said that in part this has happened because many municipalities lack the technical skills and resources required to meet people’s needs.

“Many municipalities have not reinvested the revenue they earn from these services into the upkeep of infrastructure,” Ramaphosa told MPs.  

He added that many of the challenges in municipalities arose from the design of the local government system. 

“Starting this year, we will work with our municipalities to establish professionally managed, ring-fenced utilities for water and electricity services to ensure that there is adequate investment and maintenance,” Ramaphosa said.

“We will therefore undertake extensive consultation to develop an updated White Paper on Local Government to