Parliament’s joint oversight committees have welcomed National Treasury’s announcement that the remaining R7.1-billion in withheld local government equitable share transfers will be released to 49 municipalities on Friday.
The breakthrough follows a critical meeting on Tuesday between Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa regarding Treasury’s recent decision to temporarily freeze R13.5-billion from 69 noncompliant municipalities.
The initial financial freeze severely impacted municipalities across all nine provinces, including the City of Johannesburg, Mangaung, Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Madibeng, and Nkomazi.
The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Standing Committees on Public Accounts (Scopa), Finance, and Appropriations strongly commended the departments for taking citizens into account when assessing municipal failures.
During a recent joint meeting, committees directed both departments to ensure that basic service delivery remains uninterrupted throughout the intervention.
