NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTION 128 Written Reply 16 March 2012
128. Mr V M Manzini (DA-Mpumalanga) to ask the Minister of Public Works:
1) Whether (a) his department and/or (b) the provincial departments have
any outstanding payments for (i) rates and taxes and (ii) utilities to
local municipalities; if not, how was this conclusion reached; if so,
in each case (aa) which municipalities, (bb) what are the outstanding
amounts and (cc) how long are the payments overdue;
2) whether his department has taken any measures to facilitate immediate
payment in this regard; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details;
3) whether his department has identified any measures to ensure that
municipal accounts are paid timeously; if not, why not; if so, what
measures? CW175E
Reply:
1. Yes, there are outstanding payments; however, the department is unable
to provide the exact figures as these still need to be verified. The
figures to be verified include both prior and after devolution. A
National Steering Committee has been formed to speed up the
verification and the process is underway.
2. Yes, the measures include:
i) Periodic collection of invoices from municipalities
ii) Periodic submission of proof of payment schedule to
municipalities to enable them to allocate payment
3. Yes, the measures to ensure timeous payment include:
i) Creation of an invoice register to track payment processing of
invoices as well as outstanding monthly invoices
ii) Reconcile property data with municipal data to ensure that all
properties are levied and paid monthly.
NOTE TO MINISTER:
Background information
The Department of Public Works, the Department of Cooperative Governance
and Traditional Affairs have joined forces with Presidency and National
Treasury to resolve the debts owed by government Departments to
municipalities. A task team was established in June 2011 comprising of
senior managers from the above mentioned institutions to formulate an
action plan for reducing the municipal debts. In an attempt to reduce the
Debt for Government, a task team developed an action plan which includes
National Treasury requesting all municipalities to submit any outstanding
on property rates for both Provincial and National Public Works. To that
end, a debt amounting to R 443 million was claimed by various
municipalities which however the Department of Public Works is in a process
of reconciling and verifying the amount. To date the Department managed to
pay R65, 5 million of the verified amount and the balance still need to be
verified and reconciled by both Provincial Departments and DPW before any
payments could be made. It is against this background that the Department
cannot currently report on verified debt outstanding to various
municipalities.
Rates and Taxes:
|PROVINCE |AMOUNT OWED |
| |(Unverified) |
|Eastern Cape |R 24 150 490.00 |
|Free State |R 213 697 780.00 |
|Gauteng |R 12 190 760.00 |
|KwaZulu Natal |R 100 436 943.00 |
|Limpopo |R 24 126 283.00 |
|Mpumalanga |R 7 010 370.00 |
|Northern Cape |R 8 295 586.00 |
|Western Cape |R 46 223 854.00 |
|TOTAL |R443Â 913 723 |
A spreadsheet is hereby attached.
Utilities (Municipal Services):
|PROVINCE |MUNICIPALITIES |AMOUNT OWED |
| | |(Unverified) |
|Eastern |Amahlathi, |R 4 199 407. 00 |
|Cape |Amathole,Baviaans,BlueCrane,BaffuloCity,| |
| |Comdeboo,Gariep,GreatKei,Ikwezi,Inkwanca| |
| |, | |
| |Inxubayethemba,Kouga,Koukamma,Lukhanji,M| |
| |akana, Ndlambe,Nkonkobe,Nxuba,Sunday | |
| |Valley,Tsolwana. | |
|Free State| |R0 |
|Gauteng | |R0 |
|KwaZulu |Kokstad,Zululand,Umkhanyakude,Umngungund|R 4 462 175.00 |
|Natal |lovu, Umvoti,New Castle | |
|Limpopo |Lepelle- Nkumpi and Lepahalale |R 1 577 864.00 |
|Mpumalanga|Albert Luthuli, Bushbuckridge, Dr JS |R 9 704 864.00 |
| |Moroka, Delmas, | |
| |Dipaleseng, Emalahleni, Emakhazeni, | |
| |Govan Mbeki, Lekwa, Mbombela, Mkhondo, | |
| |Msukaligwa,NkomaziSeme, Steve Tshwete, | |
| |Thaba chweu,Thembisile,Umnjindi. | |
|Northern |Gamaraga,Karoo Hoogland,Kheis,Magareng, |R 22 046 376.00 |
|Cape |Ritchersveld, Siyathemba, Sol Plaatjie, | |
| |Ubuntu, Umsombomvu, | |
| |Kai!Garib,Thembelihle,Phokwane,Khai-Ma, | |
| |Ronesterberg,Kgatelopele,Mier | |
|Western | |R0 |
|Cape | | |
|TOTAL | |R41Â 990Â 686.00 |