Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says municipalities owe R1.7 billion in pension contributions deducted from employees' salaries but not paid into pension funds, describing the practice as one of the key reasons National Treasury withheld funding from 69 municipalities.
Thousands of municipal employees could face uncertainty over their retirement benefits after municipalities failed to transfer R1.7 billion in pension contributions deducted from workers' salaries, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has revealed.
National Treasury temporarily withheld July 2026 equitable share transfers allocated to 69 municipalities after they failed to comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and related regulations.
The withheld funds are meant for basic services and day-to-day municipal operations.
The affected municipalities, spread across all nine provinces, collectively owe R1.7 billion to pension funds as of the end of February.
