Municipalities collect R27bn more revenue in 2016 than 2015
The improvement is attributed to increased grants and electricity sales, but municipalities owe lenders, suppliers and creditors 7.5% more than in 2015
South African municipalities succeeded in collecting R27bn more revenue in the year to end-June 2016 than in the prior financial year, Statistics SA reported on Wednesday. The total amount collected increased from R306bn in 2015 to R333bn in 2016. Statistician-general Pali Lehohla said possible reasons included increased grants as well as municipalities raising their rates. The period covered by the census was before the local municipal elections in August 2016, in which the ANC took a hit at the ballot box. The largest contributors to municipal revenue were grants and subsidies, followed by electricity sales and property rates. Municipalities spent a total of R311bn during the reporting period, of which 25.3% was spent on employee-related costs, followed by electricity purchases that amounted to 22.6% of all expenditure. Of the total spent, 8.9% was on depreciation and amortisation, while 8.2% was spent on other expenditure, which consisted of, among other things, collection lost, ...
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