Cape Town - Money owed to metropolitan municipalities has
grown by almost 20% over the past year, according to a local government revenue
and expenditure statement released by Treasury on Friday.
The statement covers the period July 1 2010 to June 30 2011.
"Metropolitan municipalities were owed R36.6bn in
outstanding debt as at June 30, 2011. This represents an increase of R6.0bn or
19.7%, from the fourth quarter of the 2009/10 financial year."
According to the statement, Johannesburg's outstanding debt
is the highest of any metro.
"The City of Johannesburg's share in this increase is
R3.6bn, or 60%. (Its) outstanding debt has grown by 44% year-on-year, the
highest of any metro."
Among other things, the statement also finds municipalities'
cash flow situations have improved, compared to previous quarters of this
financial year.
"This is largely as a result of significant underexpenditure of both the operating and capital budgets by municipalities," it says.