Here are some trends of revenue and expenditure published by National Treasury of Municipalities across South Africa:
Municipalities spent 44.2 per cent or R287.5 billion of the total adopted expenditure budget of R649.9 billion. Aggregated billing and other revenue was 49.9 per cent or R325.5 billion of the total adopted revenue budget of R652.3 billion.
Capital expenditure amounts to R14.3 billion or 18.4 per cent of the adopted capital budget of R77.4 billion.
The adopted operating expenditure budget amounts to R572.5 billion, of which R273.2 billion (47.7 per cent) was spent by 31 December 2024.
Municipalities adopted a budget of R162.6 billion in respect of salaries and wages (including remuneration of councillors), representing a R8.1 billion or a 5.2 per cent increase from the adopted budget of R154.5 billion for the 2023/24 municipal financial year. The budget for salaries and wages constitutes 28.4 per cent of the total adopted operating expenditure budget of R572.5 billion. As at 31 December 2024, R76.7 billion or 47.1 per cent of the adopted salary budget was spent.
Municipalities are owed about R405.1 billion by consumers, compared to R338.2 billion reported in the second quarter of 2023/24. About R2.6 billion or 0.7 per cent of this debt was written off as bad debt. The largest component of this debt relates to households (71.9 per cent or R291.1 billion).
The total creditors owed by municipalities were reported at R128 billion, an increase from R104.3 billion reported in the same period in 2023/24. Provinces with the highest percentage of outstanding municipal creditors in the category greater than 90 days, are Mpumalanga at 93.9 percent, Free State at 92 percent, Northern Cape at 91.8 percent, and Limpopo at 86.1 percent.