Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero says several Gauteng government departments have still not settled their municipal accounts despite instructions from Premier Panyaza Lesufi to pay what they owe.
This comes as the City of Johannesburg launched an aggressive revenue collection campaign to recover about R1.4 billion owed by government departments and state entities for municipal services.
Morero says the city received the green light from the Gauteng provincial government to begin targeting departments and entities that have defaulted on their municipal payments.
“The Premier gave us the go-ahead during his executive committee meeting. If they are not paying, we can proceed with our actions to recover the R1.4 billion owed to the city,” he said.
The mayor expressed concern about the continued non-payment of rates and services by some government institutions, warning that it places additional strain on the city’s finances and its ability to deliver services.
“Like any other business, they should be paying because we invoice them every month,” he said.
As part of the revenue collection operation, municipal teams have also targeted several state-owned buildings, including the Gauteng Division of the High Court and Leeuwkop Prison, in an effort to recover outstanding payments.
The City’s Group Head of Revenue, Lufuno Mashau, says a government building at 45 Commissioner Street, which houses departments such as Transport and Health, is among those owing the municipality significant amounts.
“The Department of Transport alone owes the city about R200 million. We are encouraging them to settle the debt,” Mashau said.
He added that some of the outstanding accounts relate to hospitals, which the city cannot disconnect from services.
“As you know, we cannot cut off hospitals,” he said.
The city says the revenue collection campaign will continue until government departments and entities settle all outstanding municipal debts.
