South African municipality in so much financial trouble that it cannot pay salaries

The West Rand District Municipality in Gauteng said it had to delay salaries of senior managers and councillors due to cash flow problems.

The West Rand District Municipality is one of the districts of the Gauteng province that covers the West Rand area, except for Roodepoort.

The West Rand District Municipality has a population of 821,000, and the most prevalent languages are Tswana, Afrikaans, and Xhosa.

The seat of the district municipality is Randfontein, and the municipality includes the Krugersdorp and Carletonville areas.

Its local constituent municipalities, Mogale City, Rand West City, and Merafong City, are trapped in a cycle of infrastructure failure and inter-governmental debt.

There are regular water supply interruptions and water throttling in these areas, caused by debt and infrastructure collapse.

Towns across the West Rand also battle exposed, leaking sewer lines and inadequate stormwater drainage, which create public health risks.

Service delivery problems are partly due to the West Rand District Municipality’s financial crisis, which has reached critical levels.

Zeblon Mphuphuli, the acting municipal manager, informed senior managers and councillors that their June salaries will only be paid on 5 July.

Ben van der Berg, a Freedom Front Plus councillor in the Merafong local municipality, said the situation is concerning.

“When a municipality cannot pay its employees on time, it shows that local government in Gauteng is on a dangerous path of mismanagement and decay,” he said.

“This delay not only has administrative consequences but also creates direct, unfair repercussions for affected employees and their households.”

He said that no employee should suffer financial harm simply because a council is incapable of managing its finances.

“Financial mismanagement can no longer be tolerated. Accountability must be enforced so that officials and management are truly held responsible,” he said.