{"id":89268,"date":"2025-09-05T19:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes"},"modified":"2025-09-05T19:11:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:11:49","slug":"one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes","title":{"rendered":"One South African municipality that rose from the ashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Amid significant turmoil and financial struggles at many of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, Mogale City in Gauteng was able to make an impressive turnaround.<\/p>\n

From reducing its debt to Eskom, mainintaing up to date accounts with bulk suppliers, and improving service delivery through targeted investments, this municipality \u201crose from the ash\u201d.<\/p>\n

This is according to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature\u2019s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), which recently conducted an oversight meeting with Mogale City.<\/p>\n

The committee found that Mogale City has made steady progress in stabilising its finances and strengthening governance.<\/p>\n

According to the municipality\u2019s report, Mogale achieved a R355.5 million surplus in 2025, supported by revenue growth to R4.57 billion.<\/p>\n

The city also boasted improved liquidity, with cash reserves rising to R299.9 million from R149.7 million the previous year.<\/p>\n

The municipality has also reduced borrowings from R156.3 million to R122.7 million, secured Eskom debt relief of R216 million, and now maintains up-to-date accounts with Eskom and Rand Water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese developments, combined with a 90% revenue collection rate and improved compliance with conditional grants, reflect a municipality that is financially viable and on a sustainable path,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n

The city has also made significant inroads in improving service delivery through targeted investments, including R8.8 million for pothole repairs, R12 million for refuse removal, R12 million for electrical network maintenance and R33 million for chemical toilets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe municipality has also maintained a high utilisation of its capital budget, directing funds towards infrastructure renewal,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n

Despite this impressive progress, Mogale still has some ways to go, with several challenges remaining.<\/p>\n

This includes delays in sewage projects such as the Flip Human Waste Water Treatment Works, losses in water and electricity supply estimated at 26% and 12%, respectively, and the urgent need for renewing ageing infrastructure across the municipality.<\/p>\n

However, the committee reaffirmed Mogale City as a \u201cbest-practice example\u201d of municipal financial recovery, noting its credible, funded budget and sound cash flow management.<\/p>\n

Committee Chairperson Mzi Khumalo commended Mogale City\u2019s leadership for steering the municipality towards recovery. The city\u2019s Executive Mayor, Lucky Sele, said, \u201cWe rose from the ash\u201d.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s municipalities in trouble<\/b><\/p>\n

Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke<\/p>\n

Mogale\u2019s successes come as many other municipalities in South Africa are facing immense difficulties both financially and in terms of service delivery.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s Auditor-General (AG), Tsakani Maluleke, sounded the alarm about mismanagement at South Africa\u2019s municipalities in her latest Integrated Annual Report for the 2023\/24 fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Specifically, she said many of the country\u2019s municipalities and metros are plagued by poor revenue management, debt collection and budgeting practices, and financial losses due to poor-quality spending.<\/p>\n

She said a lack of institutional capability directly leads to poor financial management practices, a problem seen in many of South Africa\u2019s municipalities.<\/p>\n

In the 2022\/23 AG report, only 34 South African municipalities received clean audits compared to 163 a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why, not only do you get your debits and credits wrong, but also you end up with huge financial viability problems,\u201d Maluleke explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t pay your creditors on time because you\u2019re running out of cash. You approve unfunded budgets. You end up with unauthorised expenditure or spending money on things you shouldn\u2019t be spending on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This lack of financial viability impacts a municipality\u2019s ability to deliver services efficiently and consistently.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformance becomes a problem because you\u2019re not even planning to do the very basics, like maintain your infrastructure. So then service delivery suffers,\u201d Maluleke said.<\/p>\n

This not only negatively impacts the municipalities\u2019 residents but also places an immense burden on all taxpayers, as struggling cities increasingly turn to the National Treasury for support.<\/p>\n

Despite the implementation of the Treasury\u2019s municipal debt relief programme, which aims to assist municipalities in reducing their debts to Eskom, several local governments continue to struggle.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana warned that as many as 47 municipalities could be terminated from the debt relief programme.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Amid significant turmoil and financial struggles at many of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, Mogale City in Gauteng was able to make an impressive turnaround. From reducing its debt to Eskom, mainintaing up to date accounts with bulk suppliers, and improving service delivery through targeted investments, this municipality \u201crose from the ash\u201d. This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-89268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nOne South African municipality that rose from the ashes - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amid significant turmoil and financial struggles at many of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, Mogale City in Gauteng was ab ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One South African municipality that rose from the ashes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amid significant turmoil and financial struggles at many of South Africa\u2019s municipalities, Mogale City in Gauteng was ab ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-05T19:10:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-05T19:11:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757086875.333254.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"One South African municipality that rose from the ashes\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-05T19:10:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-05T19:11:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\"},\"wordCount\":681,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757086875.333254.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/one-south-african-municipality-that-rose-from-the-ashes\",\"name\":\"One South African municipality that rose from the ashes - 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