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.
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. “The group that will receive attention are the 43 municipalities in crisis, deemed to be beyond the section 154 support and requirea corrective mode of intervention to rescue them. National Treasury is driving this process, in collaboration with the provinces,” Ramjathan said.
Ramjathan said several setbacks, including the Covid-19 pandemic and procurement delays, also contribute to revenue collection.
This didn't just 'happen' . It takes a serious effort to collapse an entity that has a coerced revenue base .