National Treasury’s decision to withhold the July equitable share transfer from 69 municipalities follows more than a decade of ignored Auditor-General warnings on municipal deterioration and increasing irregular expenditure says Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso. In her latest weekly newsletter, Mavuso says municipal collapse – now hitting three of South Africa's eight metros, including Johannesburg, Mangaung and Nelson Mandela Bay – directly reflects a failure of leadership and accountability.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has outlined what National Treasury expects affected municipalities to do in order to have their equitable share transfers reinstated. Earlier…

National Treasury's decision to withhold billions of rand from 69 municipalities over financial noncompliance has intensified concerns about the state of local government.…