INHLANZI will be watered by government departments that owe municipalities as money is about to be withheld. This amount that will be withheld by the Treasury Department will be transferred to those municipalities.
This move was made to save those municipalities that are struggling with money.
This was expressed by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Enoch Godongwana, when he presented the budget ofR44.9 billion for the department, in Parliament recently. Godongwana complained that municipalities are owed millions by government departments.
He said the departments owed the municipalities more than R14 billion.
“Government departments owe R8.2 billion. We are planning to hold this money from the departments to pay municipalities. Municipalities are complaining about the growing debt of government departments,” he said.
He said that with this they intend to rescue municipalities that are facing debt problems. He stated that they will continue to closely monitor the financial management of municipalities.
“We will seize the money of municipalities that manage money carelessly. We are concerned about the misuse of money in municipalities, that’s why we will take strict measures against those who fail to do their job.”
He said they are also working on plans to improve the water infrastructure in municipalities as there is water that is lost and does not reach the people.
“The government is spending a lot of money to stop the problem of water leakage when the water infrastructure is being repaired. This will enable people to get water.”
He said they are also renovating cities that have problems with old buildings and poor infrastructure.
He mentioned cities like Johannesburg and said that they need to be renovated in order to return to the economy as previously their infrastructure was up to standard. He complained about the old infrastructure in health centers in the country. These institutions, he said, need to be repaired because they are in a gap in helping the public.
Godongwana also commented on R17 billion, which they have invested in the economy to deal with the problem of increasing petrol and diesel in the country.
He said with this the people of this country get a breather because they don’t pay a lot of money which makes them more sensitive because of the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“The ongoing war makes it difficult for transportation as the money paid to ships has increased. This war has increased things including petrol around the world.”
He said that this war has caused an increase in petrol, which puts pressure on transport operators to increase fares and people who use these vehicles are hit.