The ANC says municipalities must redirect unspent funds to other departments to improve service delivery.
ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and co-operative governance and traditional affairs deputy minister Parks Tau said this was the party's plan to improve services in local government.
Tau participated in a two-day ANC workshop to help the worst performing municipalities.
“We want the money to go to the services needed in communities. Allow the national or provincial government to spend [the money] on your behalf.
“Let's not deprive the people in your community of access to services needed. The NEC has already made a decision on it,” Tau told Newzroom Afrika.
He said the NEC and co-operative governance department would implement a plan to boost the capacity of struggling municipalities.
“We will prioritise municipalities in distress. We will send engineers and specialists when needed to boost capacity in municipalities.”
Earlier this month auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke revealed KwaZulu-Natal only spent R251m of the R5.8bn received in grants, loans and reprioritised budgets to respond to the April 2022 floods.
Nine municipalities in the North West returned more than R340m to the National Treasury after not spending it this year. The municipalities include the City of Matlosana, Ruth Mompati, Rustenburg, Moses Kotane, JB Marks, Ratlou, Ditsobotla and Mamusa.
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