Revenue collection by the Tshwane Metro has collapsed from a high of 93% in September 2024, under a Democratic Alliance (DA) coalition, to 81% in September 2025 under an ANC/EFF/ActionSA coalition.
The 12% drop in revenue collection is confirmed in the service delivery and budget performance report tabled in the metro council on Thursday.
Improved revenue collection is one of the key drivers of Tshwane’s financial recovery. If the metro cannot collect on its bills, it will once again fall behind on payments to Eskom.
The metro’s budget, passed in July 2025, is based on a revenue collection of 93%. Unless this trend is reversed the metro will not be able to cover its expenditures.
The 12% under-collection worsens the metro’s already precarious financial position. At the financial year ending June 2025, Tshwane had a R857 million deficit.
To plug the deficit, the ANC/EFF/ActionSA introduced a City Cleansing Levy without allocating the new revenues to city cleansing expenses.
Raising taxes on already overburdened consumers, instead of achieving financial efficiencies, doesn’t work. Beyond a certain point, it just worsens payment delinquency.
In August the Gauteng High Court set aside the City Cleansing Levy, effectively rendering Tshwane’s budget unfunded.
The metro has decided to appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court of Appeal. But given the admission by Mayor Nasiphi Moya that the tariff is not linked to the actual costs of city cleansing, it is difficult to see how the City’s appeal will succeed.
As Tshwane’s Mayor and Deputy Mayor, who is also the Finance MMC, stumbles from one scandal to another, the City lacks the leadership needed to steer it to financial recovery. The DA reiterates our call for the City to prepare a budget funding plan to deal with the consequences of its deteriorating financial position.