Grants and service charges leading sources of operating income for municipalities
According to the latest Quarterly financial statistics of municipalities released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) today, purchases of water by South African municipalities increased by 2,8% between the quarters ended December 2014 and March 2015. Electricity purchases by municipalities over the same period decreased by 4,4%.
According to the statistical release, sales of electricity decreased by 3,8% between the quarters ended December 2014 and March 2015. A decrease of 3,7% was recorded in the sales of water over the same period.
Employee-costs, including items such as salaries and benefits, decreased by 8,6% between the quarters ended December 2014 and March 2015.
Income
For the quarter from January 2015 until March 2015, the largest contribution to total municipal revenue was made by ‘grants and subsidies received’, which contributed 27,8% to municipalities’ operating income. The second leading contributor to total municipal revenue was ‘sales of electricity’ (25,8%), which was followed by ‘property rates collected’ (17,0%), ‘other income’ (13,6% – this includes fines, licenses and permits, public contributions and donations amongst others), ‘sales of water’ (9,1%), ‘sewerage and sanitation’ (3,9%) and ‘refuse removal’ (2,8%).
Operating expenditure
Operating expenditure breakdown for the quarter ended March 2015 shows that the leading contributor to municipal total expenditure was ‘employee-related costs’ (26,7%), followed by ‘purchases of electricity’ (19,1%), ‘other expenditure’ (14,2% – which consists of collection costs, loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment amongst others), ‘general expenses’ (7,5%), ‘depreciation’ (6,6%), ‘purchases of water’ (5,8%), ‘repairs and maintenance’ (4,8%), ‘bad debts’ (4,4%%), ‘contracted services’ (4,0%), ‘grants and subsidies paid’ (3,2%), ‘interest paid’ (2,5% ) and ‘remuneration of councillors’ (1,2%).
The full statistical release is available on the Statistics South Africa website: www.statssa.gov.za.
Note to editors:
The Quarterly financial statistics of municipalities is a quarterly survey that covers all local, district and metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It provides statistics on the consolidated financial position of municipalities in the country, including information on income generated from rates and general services and housing and trading services.
For technical enquiries:
Joe de Beer
Deputy Director General: Economic Statistics
Tel: (012) 310 8024
Cell: 082 888 2600
Email: JoeDB@statssa.gov.za
Dr Patrick Naidoo
Executive Manager: Government Financial Statistics
Tel: (012) 310 8307
Cell: 082 888 2509
Email: PatrickN@statssa.gov.za
Malibongwe Mhemhe
Acting Manager: Local Government Institutions
Tel: (012) 310 6928
Cell: 082 906 8964
Email: MalibongweM@statssa.gov.za
Enquiries:
Trevor Oosterwyk
Tel: (012) 310 4687
Cell: 082 908 9104
Email: trevoro@statssa.gov.za
