KZN MEC Buthelezi urges ratepayers, govt departments to settle bills amid municipal debt crisis

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is reiterating its call for government departments and ratepayers to pay what they owe to municipalities amid the deepening financial crises faced by local governments.

Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi said payment is the “oxygen” that municipalities need to service their communities.

He spoke during a four-day joint oversight engagement with the National Portfolio Committee on Cogta, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), and the KZN Provincial Legislature.

The high-level session held at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall served as a critical platform for accountability, focusing on the audit outcomes and financial health of the province’s municipalities.

The session saw active participation from leadership across various KZN municipalities, including Msunduzi, eThekwini, Ugu, and uMhlathuze, who provided direct answers to the committee on a variety of issues.

The department described the discussions as robust, focusing on critical areas such as the water crisis in Ugu District Municipality, payroll irregularities in certain districts, and the high cost of consultants.

MEC Buthelezi detailed a comprehensive roadmap of interventions currently being spearheaded by KZN Cogta. He emphasised that the department is moving beyond mere monitoring to active, hands-on intervention to rectify the governance and financial lapses identified during the four-day sitting.

Buthelezi said, “To break the fiscal stranglehold where 25% of KZN municipalities are currently presenting unfunded budgets,” the MEC is championing a provincial "culture of payment." He indicated that the department is engaging government entities, businesses, and residents to settle debts, thereby restoring the "financial oxygen" necessary for municipalities to remain viable.

MEC Buthelezi assured the committee that he remains “unshakeably committed” to assisting all 54 municipalities through technical, financial, and governance support.

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, emphasised that the engagement was about “accountability and consequence management”, noting that the platform provided an essential mirror for municipalities to assess their performance against national standards.

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