Clement Manyathela speaks to Peter Sutton, MMC of Finance for City of Tshwane and Jaco Holtzhausen, MMC of Finance for Mogale City.
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The City of Tshwane and Mogale City are both facing financial difficulties.
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Sutton says Tshwane is in a major financial crisis.
According to Sutton the City of Tshwane is in a dire financial state and the city’s liabilities exceed its assets.
He adds that the financial troubles are exacerbated by a high culture of non-payment in the city.
We are in a major financial crisis in the City of Tshwane from a liquidity perspective.
Peter Sutton, MMC of Finance for City of Tshwane
Sutton says that the lack of available cash is also, unfortunately, having a negative affect on service delivery in the municipality.
He adds that the City of Tshwane’s financial situation worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when Tshwane was also placed under administration and there was a financial loss of around R4 billion.
Following this period, he says there has been a knock on effect, which they have struggled to stabilise.
Mogale City has also been having financial challenges although Holtzhausen says it is not as severe as things appear to be in the City of Tshwane.
He says that as a result of several factors, including years of financial mismanagement and the pandemic, the city does have financial constraints, but the situation is improving slightly.
It seems like we are slowly, but surely lifting our head and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Jaco Holtzhausen, MMC of Finance for Mogale City
He adds that they are currently paying off their debts to Eskom and they should be up to date by the end of April.
Listen to the audio above for more.
