Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile has called out municipalities in the province for skyrocketing R165.7m debt owed by councillors and officials.
The city of Johannesburg tops the list with the largest balance recorded at R74.4m, followed by Tshwane sitting at R36.2m and Ekurhuleni with R22.9m owed.
He said this results in low collection rates and difficulty settling debts.
Maile revealed that he has sent out formal correspondence to municipalities to enforce recovery measures to ensure compliance by councillors and officials.
“In total, councillors in various municipalities in Gauteng owe municipalities an aggregated amount of R5.5m. It must be noted that councillors who owe their respective municipalities except for those in the City of Ekurhuleni, each have outstanding balances on their accounts ranging from R100,000 and above.”
Maile said he would be looking into measures to mitigate against this, which could include docking the salaries of defaulting officials.
“One of the things we might have to look at is if the law allows us to dock their salaries, if the law allows we will do that or encourage municipalities to do that. We’ll have to look at naming and shaming, so municipalities will know who is not paying.”
The MEC explained that the poor collection rate feeds into the crumbling state of municipal coffers.
“As at 31 December 2025, Gauteng municipalities reported an aggregate debtor’s balance of R165.7-billion. A significant portion of the total debtor balance is related to households at 73.3%, commercial at 23.2% and state organs at 3%.
“Gauteng municipalities are having difficulty putting credit control policies into practice, which leads to a poor collection rate and, ultimately, an inability to pay off debts when they become due.”
Officials lead the charge in this offence, with Maile reporting that they owe their respective municipalities a total of R160.2m as of December 2025.
“In this regard, the City of Johannesburg is leading with R72-million owed by officials, followed by the City of Tshwane, City of Ekurhuleni and Emfuleni with the debt of over R10-million each.”
Meanwhile, Gauteng metros are failing to generate sustained income to mitigate against the debt it faces.
“The total operational revenue generated by Gauteng municipalities as of 31 December 2025, was R123.3-billion, or 53.9% of the annual budget and 3.9% more than the 50% straight line estimate. The metropolitan municipalities were the primary contributors (City of Ekurhuleni – R34.5-billion; City of Johannesburg – R48.5-billion and City of Tshwane – R27.6-billion).”
While others have remained afloat, with most Gauteng municipalities said to have been functioning within the adopted budget during the first half of this financial year, some are already on the backfoot.
“The operating expenditure incurred during this period amounted to R109.2-billion, representing 49.2% of the annual budget. The main contributors being the metropolitan municipalities.
“Households accounted for the largest share at 73.3%, followed by commercial entities at 23.2% and government departments at 3%.
“However, the city of Johannesburg, Lesedi local municipality, Merafong city local municipality, and Rand West city local municipality reported accumulated operating deficits during this period.”
To improve municipal financial management, the department has appointed 10 municipal advisors who will work closely with municipal officials to enhance budgeting practices.
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