Local News
SA municipalities’ financial health on the decline─── KATLEHO MORAPELA 12:49 Tue, 22 May 2018
The financial health of municipalities is on the decline with only 35 percent of municipalities reported to be financially healthy.
According to Treasury’s report on the state of Local Government and Financial Management, municipalities in financial distress are mainly characterised by poor cash flow management and increasing debt. This is coupled with on-going instability in senior municipal management positions.
The report indicates that the majority of municipalities continuously fail to collect revenue owed to them as per their budgets, which, among other issues, negatively impact service delivery to communities.
It is indicated that municipalities in the Free State have the highest percentage (84.9%) of outstanding creditors, followed by the North West and the Limpopo. Meanwhile, Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu is tomorrow expected to release municipalities’ audit results for the 2016/17 fiscal year and outline whether there is an improvement or whether municipalities are still on a downward spiral.
OFM News
