Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana intends to invoke a section of the Constitution that allows the National Treasury to withhold transfers to provinces that owe municipalities.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has lived up to his promise of acting against the government departments that owe municipalities a whopping R15 billion in unpaid rates and services for water and electricity.
Godongwana has now set his eyes firmly on the provinces for placing strain on municipal sustainability and service delivery by not paying their debts.
This was disclosed by Godongwana when he wrote to Parliament informing it of the National Treasury’s intention to invoke Section 216(2) of the Constitution to withhold provincial Equitable Share transfers to the implicated provinces.
He cited “persistent and material non-compliance by provincial departments in settling municipal property rates and service charges, including charges relating to water, electricity, sanitation, and other related municipal services owed to municipalities”.
