The City of Johannesburg says it will begin disconnecting municipal services to government departments and state entities that collectively owe the metro about R1.4 billion in unpaid municipal accounts.
The disconnections form part of an aggressive debt recovery drive set to begin on 27 March 2026, as the City moves to collect outstanding payments before the 31 March financial year-end for national and provincial government departments and state-owned entities.
The City’s Group Head for Revenue Shared Services Centre, Lufuno Mashau, says the municipality is aware that some departments may be preparing to return unspent funds to the national fiscus at the end of the financial year. However, he says settling municipal debt should take priority before any funds are returned.
Mashau says the City has repeatedly attempted to resolve the issue of government debt through established intergovernmental channels. Despite these efforts, the amount owed to the municipality has continued to grow.
He warns that the City cannot allow the situation to continue as it places pressure on municipal finances and ultimately affects service delivery to residents.
Mashau adds that government departments must be treated like any other customer in the City and are expected to pay their municipal bills in full and on time.
A similar approach has previously been championed by the Mayor of Tshwane, Dr Nasiphi Moya, who has called for stricter measures to ensure that government departments settle their municipal accounts. Moya has argued that municipalities cannot sustain service delivery while large state institutions fail to pay for services.
Mashau says failure by departments to meet their obligations leaves the City with no option but to disconnect services until the outstanding amounts are settled.
The City has however indicated that it remains open to engagements with affected government departments in an effort to resolve the matter through coordinated intergovernmental processes.
Moya, has already recovered about R91 million from government departments through a similar debt collection and disconnection campaign.
The recovery formed part of Tshwane’s “Tshwane Ya Tima” operation, which targeted government institutions and other entities that failed to pay municipal accounts. At the time the initiative was intensified, government debt to the metro stood at around R1.9 billion, prompting the city to take stricter action, including the disconnection of electricity and other municipal services.
City officials said the R91 million payment, including funds recovered from the Department of Public Works, was part of efforts to reduce the large debt owed to the municipality and improve cash flow for service delivery.
