local government
Will debt write-offs stop the rot in delinquent municipalities?
In a last-ditch attempt to wrest the municipal sector back from the brink of financial collapse, the National Treasury is using a R57bn debt-relief plan to change the culture of impunity that has reduced many municipalities to ruin
11 May 2023 - 05:00
The National Treasury’s plan to write off R57bn of municipal arrears to Eskom over the next three years with strict conditionalities is a bold — perhaps naive — attempt to restore basic financial management in a sector that has spiralled into debt and dysfunction.
The intent is to use the debt write-off to address the persistent culture of financial mismanagement that has brought the local government sector to the brink of collapse. As things stand, nearly two-thirds of South Africa’s municipalities are in financial distress...
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