Municipalities owe R25.1 billion to water boards, government enforces payment measures

DEPUTY President Paul Mashatile revealed on Thursday that the collective debt owed to water boards by municipalities, as of June, stood at R25.1 billion.

- MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA

Responding during a question-and-answer session in the National Council of Provinces, Mashatile said Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina has made a call to all affected municipalities to make regular payments on current accounts for the undisputed debt.

“There are instances where municipalities will dispute the debt, but we said where there are no disputes, they must pay immediately.

“They must also ring fence those disputed amounts so they can be looked at and then lastly, enter into structural payment agreements for historic debt, because we know they can't pay everything immediately,’ he said.

Mashatile was responding to DA MP Igor Stefan Scheurkogel, who wanted to know what concrete actions will be taken to deal with the culture of impunity and ensure accountability for municipal mismanagement.

Mashatile said the National Treasury has agreed to withhold Equitable Shared transfers to the worst performing municipalities in terms of nonpayments to water boards.