Pay municipal debts, government departments told

Municipalities have welcomed the national government's decision to force state departments to pay their debts by docking the amounts owed from their budget equitable share.

- Eric Mthobeli Naki

South African Local Government Association (Salga) spokesperson, Sivuyile Mbambato said the announcement was in line with what the association had been advocating for many years.

Mbambato said focus had always been on debt of the municipalities to Eskom, while the monies owed by the government departments to municipalities were not given attention.

"This announcement should be welcomed, it's what Salga had been advocating for," Mbambato said.

He was reacting to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who announced in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday that part of the departments' equitable share would be withheld as they seek to ensure they settle their municipal debts.

This meant the departments which included state-owned enterprises would have nowhere to hide as the National Treasury will come knocking on their doors to force them to pay up.

Mashatile was responding to a question for oral reply from ANC MP Mapule Dhlamini, who had asked him whether government had considered developing mechanisms to address the growing intergovernmental debt that had a negative impact on the delivery of reliable services to communities.