THE Gauteng government owes the City of Johannesburg R242.5m for rates and services and is committed to paying "undisputed invoices", Premier David Makhura said on Monday."Our commitment is demonstrated in the amounts that the Gauteng government has paid to various municipalities between April and July which amounts to R384m to settle municipal debts for all its departments," he said.While province had made provision for payment of municipal rates, it was discovered that the allocated budget was not sufficient to cover historical debt which had accumulated due to disputed bills, Makhura said.This followed mayor Herman Mashaba’s ultimatum to the province that it must pay the outstanding debt or face the discontinuation of services.Mashaba said the Gauteng government owed the city R259m.The executive mayor was giving the province 30 days to either pay or enter into an "acceptable" repayment agreement.The departments that owed the city outstanding rates and taxes were infrastructure an...
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