Concerns are growing over billions owed by government departments to municipalities, which continue to strain local government finances and service delivery. The provincial government reportedly owes Mangaung Metro Municipality close to R2 billion.

Mangaung mayor Gregory Nthatisi recently cautioned that provincial government departments failing to settle their debts may soon face direct deductions from their budget allocations.

Appearing before members of the Free State legislature last week, Nthatisi revealed that the issue had been raised with both the National Treasury and the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), who have since agreed on a joint approach to recover the funds.

“What we have done, we went to Treasury, and in our interaction with treasury, treasury met with Cogta. So the two ministers discussed, it was disclosed that all government departments that owe municipalities their monies are going to be deducted from their budgetary systems, their grants, and everything.

By December, as we move into January, we will be having the money that they owe us in our coffers,” said Nthatisi.

‘Give us a list of those abandoned land properties that we are not utilising’

However, the provincial government insists the debt crisis is not unique to the Free State. Speaking after the post-budget planning lekgotla held at Imvelo Safari Lodge in Bloemfontein on Wednesday (22/10), Free State premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae, said the problem of unpaid municipal accounts is affecting the entire country.

“If you listened to my inputs earlier, there [is a] way of addressing that. One, we met with the MEC of public works and Infrastructure for [a] lot of properties, land that we are not utilising in different municipalities.

“One of the proposals that I made to the MEC was to give us a list of those abandoned land properties that we are not utilising because the municipality continues to bill us on something that we don’t use,” said Letsoha-Mathae.

Many of the properties remain registered under the provincial government’s name, even when departments vacate them without closing water meters or securing the sites, leading to illegal water and electricity connections, with the charges eventually billed back to the state, she added.

The provincial government is proposing a structured dialogue with municipalities to explore options for debt settlement, including transferring ownership of abandoned properties or parts of unused government land as payment.

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OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi mvh