Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Ms Dumisile Nhlengethwa has called for a detailed report on how the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) intends to assist municipalities in collecting debt owed to them by government departments.
This after the department appeared before the committee to give progress report on the state of payment of debts owed to the 18 municipalities identified as having the highest government debt balances by National Treasury. The department was also expected to give a progress update on the reduction of debt owed to the two pilot municipalities, eThekwini and Port St Johns.
Mr Mothotho Sigidi, acting Director-General for CoGTA, told the committee that since the establishment of a task team last year, only seven provinces had managed to reduce their debt with Limpopo and Free State recording an increase in their debts. Mr Sigidi said the situation in the two provinces was due to the lack of involvement by the Public Works Department in the task team.
The task team comprises CoGTA, Department of Minerals and Energy, National Treasury and Department of Public Works and is tasked to act on government debt. According to the Committee, the department failed to provide a breakdown of the current position of the identified municipalities.
The Committee felt that the lack of detailed information by the department prevented it from critically interrogating the report. Hence, the committee told the department to go back and return with a comprehensive report. The exact date of the meeting is yet to be confirmed.
For further inquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Temba Gubula
Parliamentary Communication Services (PCS)
Tel: 021 403 8307
Fax: 021 403 3931
Cell: 078 735 8809
E-mail: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
Committee needs more information
