I call for Mayor Nasiphi Moya and Finance MMC Eugene Modise to come clean and explain the plan to plug the R2bn salary gap in Tshwane.
The City’s budget is not genuinely funded, and the latest revelation of a R2 billion gap in the provision for staff costs confirms the serious concerns we have raised for months.
The City cannot continue to claim that it has a “fully funded” budget when billions of rands in known obligations are not adequately provided for.
We raised the issue of the City’s under-budgeting for salaries with National Treasury, warning that this presented a significant financial risk.
This is not merely an accounting technicality. If the City does not have sufficient money to meet its salary obligations, it raises serious questions about what expenditure will ultimately be sacrificed to keep the City functioning.
We warned as far back as November last year that Tshwane was on a trajectory to run out of money. We specifically warned that once the City’s cash position deteriorated, SMMEs would be among the first to suffer, followed by pressure on the City’s ability to meet its salary obligations.
Both warnings are now proven correct.
Tshwane’s small businesses have already been forced to effectively finance the City by waiting months to be paid for goods and services they have delivered. Now, the revelation of a massive shortfall in the City’s provision for salaries demonstrates that the financial crisis is far deeper than the ANC-led administration has been willing to admit.
We have already insisted that a realistic Adjustment Budget be brought before Council to properly address the City’s deteriorating financial position.
An Adjustment Budget must confront the reality of Tshwane’s finances, including realistic revenue collection, actual expenditure commitments, outstanding creditor obligations, and the full cost of employing the City’s workforce.
The ANC-led coalition administration must stop defending a budget that exists on paper but does not withstand scrutiny in the real world.
Tshwane needs an honest financial plan that reflects what the City actually collects, what it actually owes, and what it can realistically afford.
As outlined in our manifesto, we will restore the financial viability of failing municipalities by ensuring municipalities collect what they are owed. Too many municipalities allow debt to accumulate until it becomes unrecoverable. We will enforce credit control firmly and consistently.
Residents have the power to vote for a transparent and accountable DA-led administration in the upcoming Local Government Elections 2026 to restore service delivery.