Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

Question by: 
Hon Dave Bryant
Answered by: 
Hon Anton Bredell
Question Number: 
13
Question Body: 

Of the current municipalities that have been placed under administration in terms of section 139 of the Constitution or any other applicable legislation:

(a)     What were the reasons for each intervention, (b) what progress has been made in each municipality since the intervention was instituted, (c) what support has his Department provided to each of these municipalities during this period and (d) what has been the total cost to his Department for providing this support?

Answer Body: 

13.(a) The following three municipalities are currently under intervention in terms of Section 139(5) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (“the Constitution”), and have accordingly met the conditions set out in section 140(2) of the MFMA, indicating that “a municipality is in serious material breach of its obligations to meet its financial commitments”:

  • Beaufort West Municipality was placed under intervention by the provincial Cabinet in August 2021 due to the non-payment of creditors for an amount exceeding two per cent of the municipality’s budgeted operating expenditure (per s140(2)(c) of the MFMA). An FRP was developed by the Municipal Financial Recovery Service and implementation began in March 2022.
  • Kannaland Municipality was placed under intervention by the provincial Cabinet in December 2023 due to the non-payment of creditors for an amount exceeding two per cent of the municipality’s budgeted operating expenditure (per s140(2)(c) of the MFMA). An FRP was developed by the Municipal Financial Recovery Service and implementation began in September 2025.
  • Theewaterskloof Municipality was placed under intervention by the provincial Cabinet in November 2024 due to the non-payment of creditors for an amount exceeding two per cent of the municipality’s budgeted operating expenditure (per s140(2)(c) of the MFMA). An FRP was developed by the Municipal Financial Recovery Service and implementation began in October 20252025.

13.(b) The Beaufort West Municipality has progressed to phase 2 of its Financial Recovery Plan (the stabilisation phase). The Municipality successfully completed the stabilisation phase of the FRP. Milestones achieved include consistent and reliable payments to all creditors and qualifying for the write off of part of its debt owed to Eskom under the Municipal Debt Relief programme.

The Financial Recovery Plans in Kannaland and Theewaterskloof have been implemented for less than three months, thus it is currently too early to report on progress made.

13.(c) During and intervention, the primary form of support is provided in the form of time and attention dedicated by staff of the Department of Local Government and the Provincial Treasury to advising, supporting and monitoring the implementation of the FRP. This support is often complimented by small grant allocations to enable specific projects to be implemented in support of the intervention.

13.(d)  The total cost to the Department of Local Government for providing the support listed under response 13 (a) is as follows:

Total cost: R14 310 000.

  • Kannaland Municipality, since the intervention began in December 2023 (FRP implementation September 2025):
    • Municipal Service Delivery and Capacity Building Grant: over the period 2022/23 to 2023/24: R300 000
    • Interventions Grant: over the period 2022/23 to 2023/24: R906 000
    • Emergency generator grant- over the period 2023/24 – 2025/26: R522 000 spent (R1 075 000 allocated)
    • Municipal Water Resilience Grant: over the period 2023/24 to 2025/26: R 7 840 000 allocated.

Total cost: R 10 121 000.

  • Theewaterskloof Municipality, since the intervention began in November 2024 (FRP implementation October 2025)

Total cost: R5 470  000

Date: 
Friday, November 28, 2025
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