JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged the country's municipalities to find creative ways of raising revenue.
Ramaphosa was addressing delegates at the closing ceremony of this year's Local Government Summit in Ekurhuleni, a week after National Treasury officials told Parliament that the country's municipalities are owed R255 billion.
In a presentation to Members of Parliament last week, National Treasury said that of the country's 257 municipalities, 151 were on the brink of collapse.
Treasury's Sadesh Ramjathan revealed that 43 municipalities had already collapsed and required urgent intervention to rescue them.
In a packed hall of mayors and other senior municipal officials, the president said a strong focus must be placed on revenue collection.
"Municipalities should not just be happy with the 40, 50 percent revenue collection which they get. They must always be finding ways and means of increasing the revenue collection."
Ramaphosa encouraged municipalities to hire skilled professionals to fast-track addressing their revenue solutions.
