The Democratic Alliance in the Northern Cape requested a joint briefing with the relevant stakeholders to probe the persistent financial chaos at municipal level and to find lasting solutions for these challenges.
Kamiesberg, Kai !Garib, Renosterberg, and Thembelihle struggled to pay salaries due for July 2026, with Magareng only able to pay its June 2026 salaries after securing a bail-out from the Frances Baard District Municipality. We are sympathetic to the difficulties that it creates for dedicated and ethical municipal employees who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in financial uncertainty.
All five are among the eleven municipalities from which equitable share payments were withheld. The reality is that decisive action had to be taken to safeguard the public purse and to prevent the further deterioration of municipal finances. The non-payment of salaries is simply the latest evidence of continued municipal financial mismanagement, which already culminated in the adoption of unfunded budgets, high levels of debts owed to pension funds, and arrears owed to bulk service providers like Eskom and the water boards. Failure by national government to respond to the real fiscal risks, which are seemingly ignored by municipal and provincial leadership, would have created further harm and hardship for local economies.
We are eager to receive detailed reports from all affected municipalities on the level of compliance to conditions set by national, payment arrangements made with creditors, and steps taken to avoid a repetition of the circumstances that led to the withholding of the equitable share payment.
We note that Kamiesberg, Kai !Garib, and Renosterberg are set to receive the rest of their equitable share payments after submitting proof of payment or of payment plans with creditors. The fact that compliance was possible after National Treasury took a strong stand against continued mismanagement shows that greater enforcement of municipal laws can make a real difference.
It is time for the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature to embrace its oversight duties and to ensure that it is never again necessary for such decisive action to be taken.