Good news for the Makana Municipality is that National Treasury is to pay some of the arrears owed by government departments, which has been accumulating by the month.
Good news for the Makana Municipality is that National Treasury is to pay some of the arrears owed by government departments, which has been accumulating by the month.
By the end of February, provincial departments owed a total of R13.4 million and national departments had run up a total bill of R5.2m. Added to the amount by which households and businesses in Makana are in debt to them, the municipality is owed around R170.9 million.
Chief Financial Officer, Jackson Ngcelwane, told the Budget, Treasury, and IDP committee during its meeting on Wednesday that National Treasury had indicated they would intervene and pay the arrears of government departments.
Ngcelwane said the arrears they were referring to were in property rates and said it was now up to them to supply National Treasury with the information they required. Every month, the council's Budget, Treasury, and IDP committee features an arrears debt report in its agenda.
They have frequently expressed their dismay, pointing out that the municipality could be doing a lot with that amount. Councillors have also expressed their fears that a small municipality such as Makana couldn't handle such a proportionally large debt.
