OPINION| Treasury’s municipal funding crackdown will fail unless officials face consequences

By Jonathan Erasmus

National Treasury earlier this month took a step that should have been taken long ago. It temporarily withheld the July equitable share transfers of 69 municipalities because of serious and persistent financial mismanagement.

That is more than a quarter of South Africa’s 257 municipalities.  

Treasury’s reasoning was sound. In some respects, it resembled a parent withholding a child’s weekly pocket money when it is repeatedly squandered and rules are ignored.

But municipalities are not children that can be quickly disciplined.

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They have lawyers, unions, political interests and entrenched patronage networks feeding from the public purse. More importantly, when funding is withheld, it is seldom councillors and senior administrators who feel the consequences first. It is residents.

Treasury effectively acknowledged that danger on Tuesday. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the remaining withheld July equitable share