Please find attached soundbite in Afrikaans by Gerhard Strydom.
Please find attached soundbite in English by Gerhard Strydom.
- Matlosana’s current liabilities exceed its current assets by R4.667 billion, exposing the municipality’s deepening financial crisis.
- Outstanding debt has reached R12.3 billion, while the municipality’s collection rate sits at just 65%.
- The DA is calling for urgent revenue recovery, stronger financial controls and consequence management to protect basic service delivery.
The Democratic Alliance is sounding the alarm over the City of Matlosana’s financial position, with the municipality’s fourth-quarter report for April to June 2026 revealing a municipality under severe financial pressure.
Current liabilities exceed current assets by R4.667 billion, while outstanding debtors have ballooned to R12.3 billion. Creditors stand at a staggering R6.465 billion, pointing to serious cash-flow constraints and mounting pressure from unpaid service providers.
Most concerning is the municipality’s 65% collection rate. Despite billing more than R4.7 billion in revenue, Matlosana is failing to convert a significant portion of that billing into actual cash.
This is not simply an accounting problem. When a municipality cannot collect the money owed to it, it cannot reliably maintain infrastructure, pay service providers or deliver basic services. Residents and businesses ultimately pay the price through deteriorating services and infrastructure.
The figures also stand in stark contrast to assurances previously given by the ANC Executive Mayor, Mr. Fikile Mahlophe, that debt collection would improve and that “no stone would be left unturned”. The latest figures suggest those promises to have not translated into meaningful results.
The DA is therefore calling for:
- An immediate and credible revenue-enhancement and debt-collection strategy;
- Stronger financial controls and effective oversight;
- Consequence management where officials have failed to perform their responsibilities; and
- A realistic, measurable and enforceable financial recovery plan.
Our Working for All Manifesto 2026 makes it clear that municipalities must manage public money responsibly and get the basics right. Financially sustainable local government is essential to ensuring that residents receive the reliable services they pay for.
Matlosana residents cannot continue paying more while getting less. The municipality needs decisive financial intervention, accountability and competent management before its financial crisis causes even greater damage to essential service delivery.
We need government that works and that starts with getting public finances under control.