Pamella Majola
National Treasury is planning the first comprehensive overhaul in 23 years of the law governing municipal finances.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says the changes will require municipalities to adopt properly funded budgets, improve revenue collection and strengthen accountability.
The amendments will also give Treasury stronger powers to investigate financial misconduct, recover losses and intervene earlier when municipalities face financial distress.
Godongwana says the reforms are intended to improve financial management while protecting basic services for poorer house.
“Government is also fast tracking the use of public private partnership, particularly in municipalities where infrastructure backlogs and service delivery pressures are more severe,” said the Minister.
“Of the 68 projects currently in the PPP pipeline, 31 are municipality projects,” he said.
The Finance minister further announced that Local government will receive 10% of the total equitable share over the medium term.
The increase is a move from 9.4% in 2026/27 to 10% over the medium term — an increase of 0.6 percentage points, or approximately 6.4% relative to the previous share.
Click below to listen to Godongwana’s sentiments…
